Catching Those Stars

A blog for the writers of Catching Those Stars to share AU fictions, ideas, art, and various other CTS related things

[catching-those-stars]

DFTRM part 8

Alyss had let out a soft hum as Hadrian explained the Synth insult to him. It made sense why it was chosen as an insult, and as Hadrian laid it out on the table, she found herself even more glad that she had pulled a gun on the creep. Surprisingly, however, she had little to no concern about the fact that Hadrian had just admitted to her that he wasn’t human. In fact, she seemed to skip over any questions she probably should have about the humanoid thing, as if she was told every day that someone she knew wasn’t human. Afterall, wasn’t she herself accused of being un-human for her track record of creulty in her missions? Of course, she supposed this was not the same, but if she was worried about it at all, she wasn’t aware of it. “Well, he certainly is an idiot. He looks to be about our age, I’m surprised someone as dull and rash as he is, is still alive.” She commented. Where her focused had landed during his explanation, however, was his role as a lover. With a wicked grin she turned to him, ready to pry into that can of worms with a morbid curiosity. “You said you were meant to be a Lover, eh? Must have been for someone with a pretty heavy pain fetish, if the other night was any indication,” She was only slightly embarassed to be bringing up the… indcident, but she had a feeling that Hadrian would be even more so. Recalling the moment, the brawl had seemed to do nothing but bring them both to a feverish high that they had barely kept themselves from giving in to. Given their lifestyles, however, sometimes being able to take the pain was a lifesaver. 

“I’m fine, Hadrian,” She started at his question, a bit taken aback by the concern in his voice. They had, however, only met the other day, and somehow they were already talking like they had known each other for years, and even sleeping -- platonically, of course -- with each other at night, apparently unable to fall asleep without the presence of another. “If he had truly upset me with that, I’d have one less bullet in my gun,” The threat was subtle, but true. She was not one to tolerate sexual assult, in any means, given her past. This man, however, had been trying to sell a ruse, and somehow she had found it in herself to give him just a little bit of mercy. If she hadn’t given that mercy, the man would have been dead the moment she had drawn her gun. A part of her wished that she had shot him, especially given the information Hadrian had given her. 

With the car in park, she took the keys as Hadrian tossed them to her and let herself in, heading to settle on down in the piano room. Hadrian met her a few minutes later with a cup of tea, and she took with with a few words of gratitude. It was still steaming, so she set it on the cover of the piano before resuming the soft melody she had been playing. “It went fine, nothing too much to really ask about. Concerned about a head injury, but other than the slight memory loss, there doesn’t seem to be any other side effects,” She replied, her eyes on the keys as she played. “I shouldn’t have to go back for a while. They’re keeping me out on a medical leave for a while,” She added. She looked up to him then, a bit of that devilish smile still at play on her features. “Looks like you’re probably out on medical leave, too, if that bruising is any indication,” She commented, knowing that a few of the bruises had been her own doing. 

She had been about to make another comment, somehow unable to use the normal filter she had around others with this man, when a phone went off. There was something oddly familiar about the ringtone, and after a few moments in which Hadrian -- who looked like he was suddenly seeing a ghost -- made no move to answer his phone, she realized it was her own. She pulled the device out of her pocket, and stared down at the screen. An image of a young girl that looked strikingly like her lit up the screen, and the name “Mimi” was at the top. Alyss frowned at the phone for a few moments, her mind taking off like a rocket. It was obvious that the girl in the picture was her own child, as she was both familiar but also completely unfamiliar. The name felt right, and yet Alyss wasn’t sure she had ever called anyone by that name before. It took her a few more moments of contemplation before she slowly swiped the green icon to the side and held the phone to her ear. 

“...Hello?” She answered cautiously, feeling like a weight was sitting in her chest as she did. Something was off, she could feel it, but she couldn’t quite place it and that troubled her deeply. A happy, loud child’s voice piped up as soon as Alyss spoke, and she had little time to contemplate on whatever it was that was causing her unease. 

“Mommy! You are home! Daddy said you were gone and weren’t going to be home for a while!” The girl chimed, and Alyss’s frown only deepened. Wasnt’t her husband gone…? Who was her child referring to as “Daddy” and why were they telling her daughter such a thing? She supposed that the girl wasn’t wrong, however, as according to James her home was unsuitable for her to live in, and as such she would likely not have a place in which to host her daughter for a while. That begged the question, though, who was taking care of Mimi? And what had happened to her father; or more importantly, who was he? It was frustrating that she couldn’t seem to remember, but she could hear her daughter waiting for an answer on the other end of the line, and so she took a deep breath and came up with something to tell the girl. 

“I won’t be home for a while, darling. Work is keeping me for a little bit more, okay?” Her voice was gentle, her frustration pushed to the side by her maternal instinct. Her daughter cooed on the other line, before jumping right into the next topic. 

“I learned my ABC’s like you asked me to! Can I sing them to you?” The little girl asked, and Alyss felt her heart swell just a bit with pride, though she didn’t remember asking her daughter such a thing. Hell, until just a few moments she hadn’t even known her daughters name or what she looked like.

“Of course, sweetheart,” Alyss replied, and that was all the girl needed to launch off into her rendition of the ABC’s. Alyss laughed softly, surprised to find that there were tears in her eyes, and did her best to bite them back as her daughter sang all the letters of the alpabet to her, although not quite in the right order. “That was great, sweetheart,” She commented after her daughter was done, earning her a happy sound from the girl. 

“I miss you, Mommy!” The girl cooed, and that was the hit that broke the dam. The tears Alyss had been holding back started to spill over, and it took all of her strength to keep the pain out of her voice when she replied. 

“I miss you, too,” She replied, but before her daughter was able to answer, there was another voice on the other side of the line, and the woman sounded somewhat worried and frantic. 

“Mimi! You know you’re not supposed to call your mom without asking me first! Her work is very important!” She could just barely hear the woman chastising her daughter, a voice that was once again familiar but unfamiliar. Before Alyss could say anything to her daughter, however, the woman had taken the phone and was now chatting away at Alyss quickly. “I am so sorry about that, Alyss. She missed you, and I should have been watching better. Everything’s okay, so don’t worry, and we’ll see you when you’re cleared from work, okay? Bye!” The woman’s voice was quick, as if she was trying to hurry the end of the phone call, and she could just barely hear the start of Mimi saying her own goodbye before the phone went dead. Confused and feeling rather heartbroken, Alyss slowly put down the phone, staring blankly in front of her. The tears continued to fall down her cheeks, but she didn’t seem to notice them at all. All she felt was the twisting in her heart, and a longing to just hold her daughter, to see her face to face. Why was she being denied that? She didn’t understand why the Establishment hadn’t sent her to the house of whoever was looking after her child. After all, the woman had sounded familiar to her, and she was sure that there was a familial relation there. After all, she could hardly imagine that she would just let anyone watch her daughter for months on end. 

“I-I’m sorry..,” Alyss finally said after several long moments, realizing that Hadrian was still in the room with her. It was unlike her to cry, and it was definitely unlike her to cry in front of others, but in the past 48 hours she had cried twice in front of this man. It was unbecoming of an Establisher, especially one with the reputation of being the deadliest in the entire organization. She wiped the tears from her eyes,  but that did nothing to stop them, nor the heartache that was the source of them. “I don’t know what’s come over me, I’m normally not like this,” She added, though a part of her wondered if that was even true. She had forgotten so much about her life, perhaps at home she did cry this much and she had simply forgotten it. 

“I just… Am I a bad mother, Hadrian? For forgetting my own *child*?” It was a heavy question to ask him, she knew this, and yet she couldn’t stop herself. She felt absolutely awful. Here she was out of the field, and she couldn’t even spend time with her family, or recall who they were or what they liked to do. The only reason she knew her daughter’s name was Mimi and that she looked like a younger version of herself was purely because of the phone’s pre-set caller ID. “I must be, because here I am, perfectly capable of spending time with her, and yet… I’m not even trying to get to her…”

[catching-those-stars]

pregnancy announcement au

The mission had seemed longer than any other, though in reality it wasn’t. In fact, it’d been shorter than most; Alyss had rushed it and almost blundered several times. Hadrian had picked up where she failed, though, and with him taking the lead and covering her ass, they managed to make it through safely and in record time. James had praised them highly upon their return, but neither seemed to care much for it, and as soon as they were able to, they left the Establishment to head home.

The drive was tense, and Alyss seemed to not hear anything Hadrian said. After a while, he gave up, and Alyss didn’t seem to notice the silence, either. When they finally pulled into their driveway, Alyss was out of the car before Hadrian had even fully stopped, and he only caught up to her at the door as she pushed it open.

“Alyss, what’s going on?” Hadrian asked as they walked inside, grabbing her arm to stop her from walking away. She stiffened but didn’t pull away.

“I feel ill,” She finally said, and Hadrian let go of her arm. A moment of silence filled the hall before Alyss spoke again. “I need you to go pick up a few things for me.” Hadrian nodded and followed her into the kitchen, concern etched into his face. Alyss rarely got sick, and for her to have been so affected by it during their mission and to admit to it so easily when he asked hinted that it was worse than she was showing it to be. Alyss looked through the cupboards and fridge briefly before jotting down a decently sized list, which she handed to Hadrian.

With a quick kiss and a promise to return as quickly as possible, Hadrian left the house. Alyss waited until she heard his car leave the driveway before heading up the stairs. She had a suspicion that she knew what the “problem” was, but she had to be sure. She pushed opened the door to their bathroom and looked through the items stored under the sink, until she found them far back in the corner, almost forgotten completely. She pulled out one of the test and went through the awkwardly angled motions. Once done, she set it aside and moved to stare at herself in the mirror while she waited for the results.

There were surprisingly few cuts on her this time, despite all her mistakes. When the nausea had kicked in and she started to be triggered by certain smells, she’d panicked, tried to rush before they were hit with a disaster like the last time. Thankfully, that had been avoided. But what about in the future? The lives they lead were too dangerous to seriously consider going through with this, but… It was far too rare of a chance to pass up, and the last time they had both been devastated…

Alyss glanced to the test then, the results having just registered a small pink +. Alyss sighed, whether with relief or concern she wasn’t quite sure. She changed then, into her lounge clothes and robe, and took the test with her as she went back downstairs. She carefully laid down a small hand towel, placed the test on it, and then brewed a cup of her favorite tea and settled on the couch to wait for Hadrian.

She knew he’d head to the kitchen first and put away the items that needed to be in the fridge or freezer, before bothering himself with whatever she’d left on the counter. Likely, he’d wait to clean what he would assume was her small mess until he was completely finished with the groceries completely. That’s exactly how it went, too. She could hear him come through the door, head to the kitchen, and start rifling through bags, opening first the fridge doors and then those of the cupboards, and then… It went silent for several long moments, and in that time Alyss took a sip of her tea, waiting patiently.

“Alyss…?” Hadrian called, rather feebly. Alyss took another sip before responding.

“Hadrian,” She spoke softly, but it was enough for him to figure out where she was. He came into the room only moments later, walking slowly and holding the test in one hand.

“Alyss, this….?” He said, gesturing vaguely to the test. She nodded, and he looked back down at it. “You’re…” He started, pausing to cover his mouth with a hand while he looked at the test yet again. “You’re… pregnant..?” He asked, staring at her expectantly. She nodded slowly and he almost dropped the test, and shook his head slowly. “But that’s… After last time, I thought… They said you likely couldn’t…” He was struggling for words, and she smiled at him softly.

“Likely couldn’t, yes. But there was still a possibility,” She said, and he finally made his way over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her. He reached out slowly to place a hand on her stomach, and she could see tears in his eyes. She knew he was remembering the last time she’d told him such a thing, and trying to put the pieces together fully. She placed her hand over his and placed the other against his cheek, wiping at the few tears that had already fallen.

“How long have you known…?” He asked after a few moments, his eyes dead set on her stomach.

“I suspected it almost as soon as we started the mission but… It was only confirmed after you left for the stores,” She said slowly, and he looked back up to her, overjoyed. He pulled her to him then, off the couch completely, and cradled her in his lap.

“I can’t believe it. After the last time, I…. We’re going to be parents!” He exclaimed, and for a long time they stayed in an embrace, Hadrian carefully holding her so as not to apply too much pressure anywhere near her torso. “What do we do now?” He finally asked, pulling back slightly to brush her hair out of her face.

“We call James, I get pulled out of the field for a while, and we see how it goes,” She said and Hadrian nodded, slowly pulling out his phone from his pocket and unlocking the screen.

“May I?” He asked, and Alyss nodded. She watched with joy and amusement as Hadrian dialed James number and they braced themselves to tell him the news. Their lives were dangerous and difficult, yes, but she knew that they would make it work somehow.

[catching-those-stars]

The Legendary Alyss

Legendary was quickly becoming one of Alyss’s favorite words. With their twenty years of experience at the Establishment, Alyss and Hadrian had quickly risen to the tops of the ranks and had managed to stay there despite many missions that had nearly taken both of their lives, and their sanities. With that, it was easy for them to both be called the Legendary team, even after Alyss’s retirement. Even without their team status, though, Alyss was a legend all on her own. She was almost famous throughout the Establishment for her many mental snaps that resulted in bloodied crime scenes all caused by her own hand that had effectively completed the missions she was on. Most seasoned agents knew by now not to test Alyss, for she was both deadly and walking the thin wire between sanity and insanity.

That knowledge, however, seemed to be lacking in the new agents.

Alyss walked through the front doors of the Establishment, bypassing security with a small wave and a smile. It took the man at the security desk a moment to recognize her with her newly bleached-blond hair, but after a moment he shrugged and let her pass. He knew better than to mess with her. She walked with a confident pace through the halls, and those she passed quickly moved out of her way when they caught sight of her. One girl, however, did not, and that was her first mistake.

She was a small blond woman, close to Alyss’s own build, but had a cheerier demeanor than Alyss. Alyss smirked when she caught sight of the girl and kept on with her pace. The girl took up step besides her and gave her a glare. “Who are you?” She asked, in a voice taut with conceit. Alyss only ignored the girl, keeping on track for her destination. The girl scoffed in irritation and decided to ask again. “Excuse me, I asked you who you were. You’re obviously not an agent here, I know all of them.” The girl said, pride seeping from her voice. Alyss laughed then, a humorless laugh and shook her head softly.

“Hannah, don’t,” Another agent said, falling in line slightly behind them. Alyss knew the guy, he’d been a younger agent when she’d left the field, and she was actually quite pleased to see that he’d lived this long. Hannah scoffed again – Alyss was sure that was what this girl would be remembered for later down the line – and waved him away.

“Don’t what? She doesn’t belong here,” Hannah snapped, and the man, Mark, only shook his head slowly.

‘At least he gets it,’ Alyss thought with amusement. She kept her pace, and Hannah did her best to keep up, not able to predict which turns Alyss was going to be taking. Hannah seemed to get fed up with that really quickly and reached out to grab Alyss’s arm. That was mistake number two, and Mark knew it as well.

“Hannah!” He snapped, but she again waved him off.

“Shut up. She needs to tell us who she is!” She snapped, and Alyss turned to the girl then with a cold, deadly smile. Hannah seemed to falter for all of two seconds, but quickly regained herself. “Who are you, and where do you think you’re going?” She snapped, not understanding that she was close to the danger line. Alyss gave her a pitying smile and shook her head gently.

“You shouldn’t touch me,” She said softly, taking on the tone of a mother correcting a wayward child. Hannah scowled at her and seemed to be about to try to use her grip on Alyss’s arm to tug her around. Alyss snatched her arm back and turned to face the idiot girl completely.

“If you must know, I’m off to find Hadrian. Figured we’d have a nice romp in one of the storage closets before I have to go catch my plane,” She said and watched as Hannah’s face first blanched and then turned to a deep red.

“E-Excuse me?” The girl stuttered, and Alyss simply raised an eyebrow at her. Hannah seemed to stumble around for words for several long moments before she finally spoke. When she did, Alyss could see Mark cover his face with his hands in exasperation. “Y-You can’t just come in here and try to take the man I’m with! Who do you think you are, you slutty bitc-” Hannah started, swinging her arm back in an attempt to smack Alyss dead across the face. Alyss blocked the hit and grabbed the idiot’s wrist, twisting it back. She grabbed the girl by the neck with her other hand and pulled her forward.

Alyss could only barely hear Mark mutter a half-assed “Please don’t…” Of course, she wasn’t going to stop, Mark knew that perfectly well. But it would look good for him if he’d at least tried to say something to stop her. She gave him a quick glance and a small smile and he simply shrugged back at her. Hannah tried to speak but Alyss gripped her throat tighter and moved her attention back to her.

“You think Hadrian is… how do you put it, the man that you’re with?” She asked, and waited for Hannah to speak. When the girl didn’t, Alyss squeezed a bit tighter and asked her again. This time, Hannah chocked out a small “yes.” Alyss smiled at her, the deadly smile that usually signaled trouble. “That’s quite amusing to me, can you guess why?” She asked, and Hannah stuttered out a small “no.”

“Do you really think that Hadrian is interested in you at all?” She asked, and Hannah didn’t reply. Alyss let that slide this time. “You think the man that is the father of my child is yours?” She asked, and she watched as Hannah’s face really paled and her eyes went wide. “You think the man I’ve spent over twenty years of my life with is yours?” She asked, and from the corner of her vision she could see James turn the corner and stop dead. “You think that the man I murdered hundreds of people for over those past twenty years… is yours?” She asked, and twisted back Hannah’s wrist even more. The girl winced in pain, and James cleared his throat.

“Alyss, I think that’s enough,” The man spoke up, and if it were possible for Hannah’s face to get even paler, it did. Alyss slowly loosened her grip on the other girl’s throat and after a moment, Hannah managed to cough out a few words.

“A-Alyss? L-Like…. That Alyss?” She asked, and Alyss finally let go of her wrist, too.

“Yes, that Alyss. Legendary Alyss. Psycho Alyss,” Alyss purred, and the girl took a few steps back, her hand at her throat. She seemed to try to stutter out an apology, but failed and turned to flee the hall instead. Alyss smirked and turned to James, who was giving her his Disapproving Look of Disapprovement. “Hey, she was the one who touched me first, she should have known better,” Alyss said with a shrug. “Is Hadrian in his office?” She asked, giving no time for James to respond to her first statement. He nodded, and off Alyss went, taking a few more turns and walking right into the office, not even bothering to knock on the door.

“So, I met that Hannah girl,” She started with as Hadrian looked up from his paperwork. His expression went from bored to amused, and he sat back in his chair. Alyss walked around his desk and pushed the papers aside, taking a seat on the top. “Needless to say, I don’t think she’ll be a problem for you anymore,” She told him, and when Hadrian asked for the details she readily supplied them.

“So, about that romp in the closet…” Hadrian started, and Alyss smirked, reaching forward to pull him closer by his shirt. He went willingly and let his hands move to her legs.

“We don’t need a closet when we have this nice, big office.” argentlune

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me pt 7

He honestly wasn’t sure if it was because John had insanely good luck, or that he had been tracking Alyss, but the man turned down the exact hall Alyss was on without a second thought, and Hadrian started to pick up his pace. Intending to stop this interaction before it started, but a hand shot out from the side hall and yanked him roughly to left. Hadrian stumbled slightly before regaining his posture, aiming a glare at Rose when he straightened himself out. “What’s your problem?” he asked, not even bothering to cover up the anger in his tone.

Rose on the other hand just crossed her arms and leveled him with an even but serious look before sweeping her hand towards John, who was closing the distance between him and Alyss. “What’s my problem? What’s your problem!” She shot back, taking a step forward. Rose was clearly trying to seem threatening, but Hadrian was not willing to back down on this matter and he made that clear by stepping forward himself so now that both of them were right in front of each other. “You need to cut this out Hadrian, don’t be so selfish! You can’t be doing this.”

Hadrian’s glare only got worse, and he glanced into the hall just in time to watch John sweep Alyss up into his arms; like Hadrian had done many times before. “Doing what Rose? I’m not doing anything besides Watching that CREEP sweep my wife up into his arms.” he shot back, bending down a little to get into her face. A move she didn’t like at all by the way her gaze narrowed. “Selfish?! Is trying to protect Alyss Selfish? John is trying to take Alyss home, and I’ll be damned if I let that happen just because the Establishment doesn’t want me too. And you shouldn’t be on their side about this, you shouldn’t be trying to stop me.”

The words seemed to strike a cord because she stepped back, and looked a little hurt, but Rose quickly masked it. “Hadrian, that’s not fair.” She told him quietly, but her injured tone did nothing to quell the anger and Hadrian scoffed at her.

“Not Fair? Not fair? You don’t know the first thing about this being not fair, because let me tell you what isn’t fair…,” Hadrian was about to launch a another verbal attack when he heard a familiar sound; the sound of Alyss crying. He stepped away from Rose and looked back around the corner, Rose followed suit; curious to see what had drawn his attention so quickly. Alyss was hunched forward slightly, crying into her hands, asking John where he had been, and telling him that she was confused. John upon hearing the words reacted quickly, clearly seeing his chance and Hadrian knew what was coming the moment John’s hands went to her face. He tried to react, but Rose again, stopped him. Grabbing his wrist with both hands, holding him back so that he could only watch as John kissed Alyss. Thankfully, Alyss reacted correctly; shoving John back and fighting him when he tried to pull her close again.

Rose let go when Alyss pressed her gun to John’s forehead, letting Hadrian’s hand fall to his side; she also slipped away after that and Hadrian didn’t even notice. He was only listening now.

“You always pick that fucking Synth, every damned time,” John spat, and Hadrian didn’t miss the glare sent in his direction. Nor did he miss the fact that John had just let on that Alyss had picked him many times in the past, and he prayed that the remark went over her head. Alyss and Devin soon met up and as Alyss questioned who that man was, Devin was pushing her out the door; his looked telling Hadrian that they needed to leave, and fast. Hadrian quickened his pace, walking ahead of the pair, and getting the car unlocked by the time Devin shoved Alyss out the door and shut her out.

Alyss didn’t seem overly bothered by Davin’s behavior instead seemed to be lost in thought. Hadrian himself was focused on getting them away from HQ as quickly as he could and once he hit the main road, he pressed down on the gas. Putting as much distance between them and The Establishment as he could. It was only after they had been on the road for awhile did she finally say something and the question made him grip the steering wheel a little tighter. When they were younger, the worst John could him was ‘it’, or ‘just a machine’ but over time someone had called Hadrian a synthetic, or Synth for short. It quickly became the go to insult for anyone who didn’t care Hadrian, or for what he was; and he hated the word. At least when they called him a machine, they were implying he was real. When they used Synth, it was just the opposite; claiming the he was indeed fake.

“That’s because it is a harsh insult.” He replied evenly, debating on whether or not he could even explain why it was aimed at him. Hadrian didn’t know how she would react to the news, but John had basically left him with no choice. “Synth, is short for Sythetic. I’m not human Alyss, that’s why he call me that. The correct term for what I am is actually Humanoid, or Android works too I guess.” Hadrian glanced at her to see what her current reaction was but couldn’t really place it. “We were made with the intended purpose to Lovers, and spouses. I can feel pain, emotions, and all that; not really any different from you or anyone else. However, my life took a very different turn, I didn’t exactly travel my intended road and here I am.” To his credit though, Hadrian had managed to marry Alyss and have a kid, all according to what had been planned, but he had never been meant to be put through so much damage. 

“Everyone found out because the Establishment considered keeping the information from them dangerous since I’m a lot stronger than anyone there, and name’s sprung up eventually. First it was ‘it’ or ‘Just a machine’ but someone, somewhere thought up ‘Sythetic or Snyth’ and it stuck.” Hadrian spat the words out bitterly. “I’d honestly really like to know who said it first so I can express how much I love the title. I know it wasn’t John, he’s not smart enough to understand what that word means.”

Hadrian felt a bit better having took that shot at John just then and his grip on the wheel let up a bit, but he still needed to address something that was bothering him. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked carefully. “About being kissed like that I mean, I’m sorry you got introduced to John that way, he’s a real fucking creep that they keep around for some reason. It‘s not like he‘s even a decent agent, he fucks up way too much.” Honestly, he wished they’d just let Hadrian do away with him. It’d save everyone a lot of trouble.

Hadrian sighed as he parked the car and sat back for a moment, glancing at his phone. It had been going off nonstop as he was driving, buzzing relentlessly in his pocket. Now he could figure out why. He let Alyss get out the car, tossing her the house keys before reading the texts. She had apparently threatened the doctor in her visit, stating that she knew what they were doing, and she wouldn’t forget for long.

It struck him as odd though. Clearly his Alyss had sprung back during the visit but what she said confused him a bit. What did she mean by ‘knew what they were trying to do’? He didn’t know what they were trying to do other than save her, wasn’t that the reason? Or was he missing something? Hadrian sighed and put the phone away before getting out the car and heading back inside, intending to question Alyss on her little visit with the doctor. First though, he needed it look somewhat innocent so he went for the kitchen first and put some tea on, letting it brew for awhile before bringing her a mug of it.

“So, aside from John, how did your Doctor visit go?” he asked curiously, settling down beside her with his own cup of tea. “Do you need to go back any time soon? You have to let me know so I can give you the key to the car.” There, perfect; it was delivered as smooth as ice. Hadrian was great spy, but he had trouble hiding his intentions around Alyss, she always seemed to see right through him so he was mildly pleased he put that out so well.

After a moment though, a phone started to ring. Normally, this wouldn’t be a bad thing but the ring-tone was happy, childish and for a minute he thought it was his phone. Only to realize with horror that it was Alyss’s personal phone. Mimi was calling her Mother, and there was absolutely nothing Hadrian could do about it other than watch her pull out her phone and look at it confusion. Hadrian after a moment though, pulled his own phone out and sent a quick Text to Aimi to let her know what was going on. There was one problem though, Aimi rarely checked her phone.

miss-rattus

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me p6

Alyss woke with a start, with the horrible feeling that something was not right. She sat up slowly, taking notice that Hadrian seemed to be sleeping rather deeply before getting out of the bed. She walked slowly down the hall and turned on the light in Mimi’s room with a caution she normally reserved for work. The light revealed that there was no need for caution as she was the only one in the room. Mimi wasn’t in bed and that wasn’t normal. Whenever she and Hadrian were home, Mimi was home. Their lives were too dangerous and their free time so short that they rarely left Mimi at Aimi’s or Connor’s when they were home. She checked downstairs, knowing Mimi sometimes got up to play, but a search of the house revealed that Mimi was nowhere inside it, and that struck her as odd.

She walked back up the stairs and turned on the light next to Hadrian’s side of the bed. “Hadrian,” She called to him, but he didn’t answer. She tried to shake his shoulder and still no answer. She sighed and looked down to the varying cuts on his arms, most likely left over from a mission. She didn’t want to do it, but… She pressed her fingers into one of the cuts, and that woke him up almost instantly. She didn’t put up any resistance as he shot awake and pinned her to the bed, but as soon as he realized it was her that had woken him in such a way, she spoke up.

“Hadrian, where the hell is Mimi?!” She questioned, and he looked at her confused. She pressed her lips together and asked again. “Hadrian. Where. Is. Mimi?” She asked, a lot more firmly this time. He still didn’t even understand her, and went so far as to ask “who?” That really irked her, and for a moment she was angry with him, but then she got a better look at him. He was really beat up, was it possible that in his recovery, they’d shut down parts of his systems and he was having a hard time remembering because of that? Would they shut off parts of his memory, though? She didn’t know, and since Hadrian wasn’t actively pinning her down, she wiggled out from under him and took his face in her hands. Almost every inch of skin she could see was cut or bruised, and as she turned his face this way and that, she only found even more damage. She started to grow angry again, but not at Hadrian this time.

She couldn’t entirely remember how the mission had ended, but she remembered him being held captive, and she remembered those long few weeks of waiting for some signal from him, and then jumping on the opportunity to rescue him… How that rescue mission went, though, she wasn’t entirely sure, but they were both at home so she supposed that it went well enough. “Uh, our child? You know, the one that came from my womb?” She said as she looked him over. “How badly did they kick you in the head, are you okay?” She asked, her frown deepening with every cut and bruise she found. He stared at her blankly for a moment before suddenly becoming very animated, and it took her by surprise for a second.

He took his hands in hers and his grip suggested he never wanted to let go. “No! I mean yes, but not really. Mimi is with Aimi, she’s fine.” He paused for a moment, hesitating before he continued. “Are you back, do you remember us? I mean, everything?” It was her turn to give him a blank look, not understanding what he meant. Was she back? She was sitting right next to him! And why would she forget him, and she supposed the “us” he referred to included Mimi. She could never forget them, they were such a central part of her. But his expression, his eagerness, everything in his body language suggested that maybe she was wrong… She took a moment to lift up his shirt, and check over the damage there while she pondered her answer.

“I don’t actually understand the question.” She admitted as she pulled her hand away from his chest “I don’t remember a lot of things. I mean last I knew you were in the recovery ward, and I was waiting as they were trying to bring your heart rate up, that’s it. I don’t remember coming home, or what I did today. Did we come home to today?” The last part she aimed more at herself, but she knew Hadrian would hear it. He heard almost everything.

“I see,” He said and something in his tone, in the way his expression changed told her she wouldn’t exactly like what she heard. She listened as he explained how she’d snapped – again – during his rescue mission, and he’d almost died, and this time a final death. How she supposedly spiraled out of control, and that they wiped her memory of him to save her. How it all seemed to affect her after, how she’d apparently cried only a few hours ago. Yet…

“So, despite all this they let me come back home with you?” She asked, vaguely amused by at least this part of the situation. She didn’t stay amused for long though, as Hadrian’s expression changed and she knew it wasn’t good. “What? What else is there that you aren’t telling me?” She asked, her tone a bit more urgent, serious.

“They didn’t have a choice, I forced their hand because I couldn’t stand just leaving you there, I’m selfish and that’s why you’re here. Because I wanted you to be.” He smiled at her, but it was a broken smile and it was gone a moment later. “They said that if you remembered anything, you run the risk of going insane; beyond help. And that I’m not allowed to tell you anything, I am basically breaking that rule right now, but you seem to be back and Alyss, you seriously don’t know how happy I am. I thought I’d never be able to talk you like this again, just be strained friends with a version of you that doesn’t remember me or Mimi.”

Alyss frowned, and for a moment said nothing. She started to think back to that day. She remembered snapping when Hadrian died. She remembered slaughtering the men who had done it. She remembered fighting with Devin, blaming him for Hadrian’s death. But she also remembered calming down when they took Hadrian to the hospital ward, when Umino and Kashi came in and started their work. Despite the many hours it took and the dim outlook, Alyss had returned to a sane state by then and had watched on the other side of the glass with Devin and Rose as Kashi and Umino worked. She even remembered them nearing the end, with Hadrian stable, just needing cosmetic repairs. But she also remembered Devin and Rose being called out, and other agents coming in, asking her to go with them… She remembered an odd story, a story that they were telling her as they walked her down a hall, one where they claimed she was still out of control, despite obviously not being so. She remembered panicking, and then trying to fight her way out, but it was no use. She frowned, hard, and gave Hadrian a stern look.

“Hadrian,” her voice was stern, and she made sure she had his complete attention. Her mind was spiraling, and she could feel her heart pounding with the realization she’d made. “Something isn’t right, I didn’t—” She started, but then stopped, blinked a few times, frowned, and looked around the room for a second. “Okay, first of all, why am I on your side of the bed?” She asked, and Hadrian seemed to switch moods. She was confused about that, and tried to get his attention, calling his name several times, but he didn’t seem to hear her. After a while, he finally muttered something, and it struck her oddly.

“She’s gone,” He said, and Alyss shook her head. She didn’t know how to comfort this man, who was obviously missing his wife terribly, but she decided to try her best.

“Maybe, she’s not gone? I mean, if you ask some people they say lost loved ones are always there, watching.” She said in an attempt to make him feel better. Hadrian just shook his head.

“This isn’t the same. You are not the same.” He said quietly. She watched as he seemed to struggle with something, how he seemed to want to say something but decided against it. After a moment of silence, Alyss finally spoke.

“Of course not. I’m not her.” She said, and sat back.

“No, you aren‘t, of course not…,” He said, and nudged her back to “her” side of the bed. She settled down, but after a moment, after Hadrian had turned off the light again, she started to get up. It was odd lying in bed with a man who obviously wished she was his presumably dead wife. He stopped her though, grabbing her arm as she got up. “Please don’t leave, I don‘t want to be alone right now.” The way he said it, Alyss couldn’t say no, and after a moment she settled back down, and turned to face him. He thanked her and left it at that, but she knew he wasn’t done with his grieving. After a moment Alyss pulled him to her, and despite him being mostly asleep he came willingly, and she ran her fingers through his hair until they’d both fallen asleep.

The next morning wasn’t as awkward as the previous, and this time she was up before he was. They shared a breakfast together before heading to the Establishment to take care of some business. The ride didn’t seem as tense as the first one, and she was glad that despite the past two night’s varying odd encounters, they didn’t seem to feel as weird around each other anymore. The trip to the Establishment didn’t seem to take as long as the trip from it, and when they arrived Hadrian gave her directions to find him later, before they made their separate ways. Alyss made her way to the hospital ward and was directed to wait in a room for the doctor.

She waited patiently for him to show up, and when he did, she sat quietly as he did his job, checking all her vitals first. He then leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms, leveling her with a concerned look. “How have you been feeling since you left?” He asked, and it took Alyss only a split second to decide between telling him the truth about her confusion, or lying.

“I’ve felt fine,” She answered, and the doctor nodded but looked over a list on his clipboard.

“No headaches?” He asked.

“No.”

“No nausea?”

“No.”

“Abnormal fatigue?”

“No.”

“No unexplained lights in your vision?”

“Definitely not.”

The doctor hesitated for a moment before continuing his questioning. “No confusion?”

“…No.”

“A feeling of losing time, or memory loss?” The question must have triggered something in Alyss, because not even a second after he asked the question, she was on her feet and she was pissed. She grabbed the doctor by the shirt and pushed him against the wall.

“I know what you did!” She snarled. “And I know what you’re trying to do. I will not forget for long, and when I remember, this entire place is burning to the ground, with all of you in it.”

The doctor looked absolutely terrified, and Alyss was sure if she had a moment more she would have been able to intimidate the man to the point of pissing his pants, but as it was she didn’t have another moment. She released the doctor, stepped back, blinked a few times and shook her head.

“Is something wrong, doctor?” She asked, wondering why the man looked absolutely shaken and terrified. He stared at her as if she were absolutely crazy, but after a moment he shook his head and made a gesture for her to leave the room.

Somewhat amused, Alyss left and followed the directions Hadrian had given her to his office. She took a few turns and noticed Hadrian turning down the hall she was in, on the heels of another agent. She didn’t recognize the other agent, but he certainly seemed to recognize her. He stopped in front of her and swept her into his arms, as if they were lovers.

While Alyss knew she couldn’t remember several important things in her life, the sudden feeling of disgust and hatred brought on by this man told her that they were not as close as to embrace in such a way.

“Alyss, I’m so glad I found you. I’ve missed you terribly,” The man said, and Alyss, for a moment, let the man keep his arms around her but her attitude was slightly cold.

“Who are you?” She asked plainly, and she could see the man blanch, then recover quickly. He reached a hand up and carefully held her chin, tilting her face from side to side.

“They said you’d endured horrible head trauma and couldn’t remember some things but… I would have thought you would remember your own husband,” He said softly, wearing an expression of concern that didn’t seem quite genuine. Alyss’s gaze hardened a little, the gaps in her memory couldn’t give her all the details she wanted on this man, so after a moment her expression softened and she decided to play along to get the information she wanted from him.

“Why did they tell me that I had nowhere to be released to?” She asked softly, giving the impression that she was upset, confused, dependent. The man frowned and moved his hand from his face to her hair.

“They weren’t sure you were okay enough to go home alone, and you’re so stubborn Alyss. I guess they thought that if they said you didn’t have anywhere to go, you would have stayed longer in the recovery room,” He said. Alyss felt that that wasn’t a true answer, but kept her act up.

She lowered her head, hunched her shoulders, and even forced herself to start to cry. “Why weren’t you there?” She asked, her voice breaking on the words. “I was so alone and… and confused! I thought…. I thought you were dead!” She cried, forcing the sobs out with a practiced ease. John fell for it, hook line and sinker, and placed both hands on her shoulders.

“Alyss, hey, relax. I was finishing our mission. You were injured and you had to be taken back, I finished for us and came back for you. I just got back today, but it’s okay now. I’m here, and we can go home,” He said, and then took Alyss’s face in his hands. She was still for a moment, thinking he just meant to give her a meaningful look, but that was clearly not his intention. Before she had time to react he leaned forward and kissed her. Her eyes went wide and her façade dropped. She could see Devin, who’d just rounded the corner, shake his head and mouth the word “no,” and that seemed to be what set her off. She placed her hands on the man’s chest and pushed him back as hard as she could. He stumbled back but recovered quickly, reaching out to grab at her arms.

“What the hell, Alyss?” He quipped, pulling her to him again. She let him pull her, and used the force of it to ram her knee between his legs, and down he went. She pulled out her gun and prevented him from getting up by pressing the barrel to his forehead.

“Touch me again and I pull the trigger,” She threatened, her voice low and even, all signs of tears, of confusion, or of a dependency on this man gone. He gave her a look of pure hatred, and her suspicions that this man was nothing more than an enemy to her was confirmed. Though, her own feelings could have told her that much. For a moment they held their positions before the man slowly stood, leveling her with a gaze that would have made a weaker woman fear for her safety.

“You always pick that fucking Synth, every damned time,” He hissed before throwing a horribly harsh glare in Hadrian’s direction and stalking off down the hall. Alyss kept her gun drawn until he was out of sight, then holstered it and looked between Devin and Hadrian.

“Who the fuck was that guy?” She asked, and Devin looked at her for a moment as if she was crazy, before he seemed to remember something and gained his composure. Devin sighed and walked over to join Alyss and Hadrian, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“That was John, the resident sexual predator,” Devin explained, and started to steer Alyss towards the entrance of the Establishment. “As much as I love to see you, you really shouldn’t be here, Alyss, you should be resting. As should you, Hadrian,” He said, giving Hadrian a look Alyss didn’t see that suggested that there were other reasons that they should be leaving. Alyss shook her head lightly but didn’t protest. After that strange encounter, she would rather be back out at Hadrian’s place. Besides, there was something she wanted to ask Hadrian about without Devin being there.

Devin all but pushed them out the front doors of the Establishment building and waved his goodbyes. Not bothered by his weird behavior, Alyss walked out to the car with Hadrian, waiting until they were inside and on the road before asking her question.

“What did John mean when he referred to you as a Synth? It sounded like a harsh insult, but it doesn’t make sense,” She asked.

As the two were driving away, Devin pulled out his phone and typed out a message to Hadrian, reading: ‘I hate to rush you two out but, I heard from a little birdie that Alyss… threatened a doctor. Saying something about knowing what they were doing, threatening to burn the place down. They wanted to keep her here again, for what I don’t know. Know what that threat was all about though? Sounds strange for her, even with her snaps.’

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me. pt 5

Of all the things Hadrian expected to feel, awkwardness wasn’t it. Never, never in his time spent with Alyss had he felt such a way. Not even when they had first actually met! Back then they seemed to break the ice down between each other pretty fast, but he guessed it was because they had been forced to. All the danger they found themselves in, made sure they formed a close bond fast, even if it was slow build to a romantic one. Now, it was just strained silence, with forced conversation. It wasn’t like he could help it, and it didn’t slip by him that he had been curt with his replies, probably not helping their case any. But if he wasn’t, he feared just caving and telling her everything. Hadrian had to treat her like he would a stranger, which meant approaching her from a distance and keeping her at arms length at all times. He couldn’t let the night before repeat it’s self.

Aside from trying to start conversation occasionally, Alyss kept to herself. She wandered the house, and he heard her settle into her room. Hopefully she would sleep a little more, she didn’t exactly look well rested. He occupied his time with writing down the last bit of the report before he set it aside on his desk and looked around the room. Pictures were covering the wall, as if to make up for the lack of pictures in the rest of the house. Hadrian had also spent some time hanging up new ones, trying his best to soothe the feeling of loss and make his home actually feel more like it should.

Dinner time was just as strained, Alyss seemed to be lost in her own world, and Hadrian couldn’t help but worry about her, she was barely touching the food. Chewing was slow, as if it was an afterthought to whatever was going on her head. He even went as far as to inquire about it, but she just brushed him off and zoned out again. Hadrian spent the rest of the meal watching her, watching her face; looking for any sign that she might be remembering something but instead it remained confused, and tormented. It was a look he hated seeing on her, and though he appreciated the help in cleaning up, he was relieved when she left. He couldn’t standing seeing her look that all the time, but he had a feeling she would be like that for a long while. As she played music upstairs, he spent the night texting Devin on and off, asking for advice that Devin couldn’t really give him. However, Hadrian stopped replying after Devin sent one firmly worded message.

“Let her go. That would be the best thing for you, and her.”

Hadrian sat and stared at the text for awhile, unsure if Devin had actually meant to say it that way, but he knew that he had. Devin had lost his spouse before, and was most suited to give guidance on the matter, but this wasn’t the type of guidance he wanted. Hadrian, despite knowing it would be unreasonable and wrong wanted Devin to be on his side about this, to tell him that he should lay everything out in front of Alyss. To stop playing pretend. So, he tossed the phone aside, agitated.

Hadrian spent the rest of his night flipping through a book, half listening to the music play upstairs. By his count, she had been playing for hours, not something she normally did, and when the music finally stopped, he set the book down and got up. They were on Night two, and sleeping  this time wasn’t going to be as easy as before. It was so odd to him though, that while she’s out on a mission, he’d sleep fine, but couldn’t do it now. He guessed it was due to the fact that he knew she was in the house, and not with him. They had technically never slept apart, even if they fought. Alyss had tried that one time, and found Hadrian outside her door; both of them unable to sleep. And now that habit of theirs was biting him in the ass; and her if Hadrian was seeing right. Hadrian’s stroll down the hall stopped as soon as he spotted Alyss at his door, and once she realized he was there, and waiting she launched into the request. He knew what she was going ask, and hid the smile with a raised brow. She wanted to sleep in the room with him, and he gave her a brief nod before letting her inside. Both of them seemed to get settled but she didn’t seem ready to sleep, so he thought to inquire about what drove her to his door.

In all honesty, it was a mistake. He opened a door, and wasn’t ready for what was on the other side. Alyss’s voice cracked in the midst of her sentence and he knew that the tears were coming, but there was nothing he could do but watch as they raced down her face. He wanted to wiped them away, hug her, tell her that her daughter looked exactly like her and was five, that she recently learned her ABC’s.; even if she didn’t get the order correct. And that the husband she refers to as gone is actually staring her dead in the face, watching her cry about them. Instead he only pulled her to him, and just held onto her, gritting his teeth the entire time. As she started to drift off, Hadrian was fighting himself on what was right to do. It was clear now that Alyss wasn’t handling the wipe well at all, and maybe Rose was right. Hadrian may have been wrong to bring her back home, to somewhere were things must feel oddly familiar but still strange. Hadrian himself was putting strain on her mind, and this was the end result. The end result was a hopelessly confused Alyss that broke down in tears, something he hadn’t seen her do in years; not since her first break. However, he couldn’t just leave her there, with no actual place to go; and he wasn’t going let the Establishment tear down what Alyss and him tried to so hard to build up; at least not so easily. So perhaps taking her home wasn’t wrong, maybe just maybe he had done the right thing, something Alyss was sure to do if the same had been done to him. But still, all of this was his fault if the records and doctors had anything to say about it. The final break that sent her spiraling, the wipe, and now the tears; it was because of him.

Guilt relentlessly pledged him for hours after she feel asleep, and Hadrian only clung to her tighter, as if she would ward the feelings away instead of being the source of it. Eventually though he did finally fall asleep, and his grip on Alyss let up enough that she managed to get up and leave without him noticing. He also failed to notice the lamp on his side of the bed turn on. Hadrian was only dragged from sleep when he felt fingers dig into one of the cuts along his arms, and he quickly snatched up the hand responsible; pulling the person down; trapping them under him. He quickly sat back once he realized it was Alyss, though her actions confused him. He didn’t even get time to question her, instead she shot one at him.

“Hadrian, where the hell is Mimi?!” Her tone was even, smooth but he could hear the underlying worry in it but it only served to confuse him more; and it showed as he frowned at her instead of answering. “Hadrian, where, is, Mimi?”

He couldn’t recall saying Mimi’s name in the past two days but he still tried to keep up the charade, just in case he had let something slip. “Who?”

That really seemed to go over well, and mix of different expressions flashed across her face. They ranged from surprise, to anger, to shock, and confusion but it eventually settled on very concerned. Alyss wiggled out from under him, and got close to his face, taking it into her hands, turning it left and right. “Uh, our child? You know, the one that came my womb? The little girl we name Mimi?” She asked as she continued to tip his head in every direction possible, clearly looking for serious damage now. “How badly did they kick you in the head, are you okay?”

It took just a moment for Hadrian to realize just who was actually talking, and the moment he did he reached and grabbed her hands excitedly, relief and joy flooding through him. “No! I mean yes, but not really. Mimi is with Aimi, she’s fine.” He paused for a second before approaching the subject carefully, unsure of what to say.  “Are you back, do you remember us? I mean, everything?”

That question only served to confuse her more, and she sat back a bit, looking him over, a slight frown on her face. Only instead of answering at first, she reached forward and lifted up his shirt, studying the damage and then her gaze moved up to his neck; where light bruises remained. Hadrian waited as she thought her answer over. “I don’t actually understand the question.” she admitted, dropping his shirt. “I don’t remember a lot of things. I mean last I knew you were in the recovery ward, and I was waiting as they were trying to bring your heart rate up, that’s it. I don’t remember coming home, or what I did today. Did we come home to today?” The last part of her question was aimed more at herself but Hadrian was quickly realizing what was going on. There were gaps in her memory as well.

“I see.” His words brought her attention back to him, and she arched a brow, waiting for him to explain. Hadrian sat back and sighed, gathering up his thoughts. “We came home yesterday actually. I woke up in the recovery ward yesterday, and went to find you because you weren’t in my room like you normally are.” He said, watching her face. So far, her expression was calm, he doubted it would stay that way. “And on my way, I bumped into Devin, who said that something went wrong while I was out, that you had another break while my vitals were down and that you spiraled from there. That you just snapped, and to save you they…,” Hadrian stopped, actually unable to finish the sentence at first. Across him Alyss waited, not saying a word but her expression was now thoughtful. “They wiped your memory to save you. They wiped all memories of me from them, everything. Our relationship, all twelve years, my very existence. I found out because Rose told me, I found you in a recovery room; and she stopped me from seeing you. But they left you some vague ones, you know you have a daughter, but you don’t know her name. You know you had a spouse, but you think he’s gone. You still can’t seem to sleep unless we’re in the same room, and not more than a few hours ago, I held you while you cried yourself to sleep over the gaps and missing memories.” Hadrian gripped at the covers under him, angry all of a sudden but Alyss spoke up a moment later.

“So, despite this they let me come back home with you?” She sounded amused with the question but she caught sight of Hadrian’s expression and her tone quickly changed. “What, what else is there that you aren’t telling me?” The gears were turning in her head, he could see it but whatever she was thinking, she was keeping to herself.

“They didn’t have a choice, I forced their hand because I couldn’t stand just leaving you there, I’m selfish and that’s why you’re here. Because I wanted you to be.” He admitted, managing a small bare smile that gone a second later. “They said that if you remembered anything, you run the risk of going insane; beyond help. And that I’m not allowed to tell you anything, I am basically breaking that rule right now, but you seem to be back and Alyss, you seriously don’t know how happy I am. I thought I’d never be able to talk you like this again, just be strained friends with a version of you that doesn’t remember me or Mimi.”

“Hadrian,” Alyss said carefully, cutting him off. “Something isn’t right, I didn-” And she stopped mid-sentence and blinked rapidly before frowning and looking around her. Her expression went from serious to confused and finally she looked back at him, this time her gaze narrowed slightly. “Okay, first of all, why am I on your side of the bed?”

Alyss’s question fell on deaf ears once Hadrian realized that his Alyss was gone, and her other version was back. That she once again forgot everything about them, about him and he felt crushed. The whole thing lasted maybe ten minutes at most, and it felt like a tease. A trick almost, and he didn’t know how to take it. He had her, sitting right there in front of him after they told him that she was gone, and that he should just let go; but she wasn’t gone. Alyss, his Alyss was still there just buried but now, she was gone again and he didn’t know if she’d ever come back. Hadrian felt crushed all over again, and didn’t really realize he had started crying until Alyss got in face again; doing what he hadn’t done. She started to wipe at the tears. She was talking to him, but he didn’t hear her. “She’s gone.” He mumbled as he processed the sudden flood of grief and pain that came surging back with a vengeance. Alyss paused in her efforts, for a moment before continuing to try and dry his face.

“Maybe, she’s not gone? I mean, if you ask some people they say lost loved ones are always there, watching.” It was an attempt to make him feel better but Hadrian just shook his head.

“This isn’t the same. You are not the same.” He replied quietly. Right then and there he came dangerously close to spilling what he meant by that but instead he just looked down, glaring at the sheets.  

In front of him, Alyss shifted and scooted a bit closer but her words provided no comfort, only the stark truth. “Of course not. I’m not her.”

“No, you aren‘t, of course not…,” he repeated before nudging her back over to her side of the bed. He was still on the verge of crying, but this time had better control and he reached for the light, turning it off. As he settled back down, he felt Alyss shift as if getting ready to leave and he reached over, grabbing her arm. “Please don’t leave, I don‘t want to be alone right now.” Alyss’s movement stilled and then he felt her climb back into the bed, and even though he wanted to, he resisted pulling her to him. “Thank you…,” he muttered before finally drifting back off, for the moment it seemed that complete emotional exhaustion is what it would take to lull him to sleep. It was a sleep deep enough that he didn’t notice that Alyss pulled him to her instead, combing her fingers through his hair in another effort to soothe the sleeping man before falling back asleep herself.

--

Alyss was up before him this time and they spent breakfast in silence before collecting their things and heading back to the Establishment. For Hadrian it was because they wanted the report, for Alyss; it was have a doctor check up on her mental well health. The car ride was actually spent in somewhat comfortable silence despite what happened the night before, and Hadrian wasn’t sure why but he was afraid to question it. Once they exited the car, he stepped up along beside her, matching her pace with ease. “It shouldn’t take me long to file the report on my last mission. If I’m not in James’s office then I’m in mine. It’s the fourth hall to the left and three doors down, just look for my name.”

With that he went his own way and turned the file in, James stayed out of sight, probably concerned with Hadrian’s anger on the issue. Sure he had talked to Hadrian a few days ago but both Hadrian and Alyss tended to have delayed reactions to things and he was probably worried about having his head shoved through a wall. James’s assistant just simply said James was out, and sent Hadrian on his way. However, as soon as he stepped out the door, John was waiting for him. Wearing a smile wide enough to show all his teeth and Hadrian regarded him silently.

“I hear,” He started, drawing out the last word causally. “That Alyss no longer remembers you. That you finally managed to push the poor woman over the edge, and that getting rid of you was the way save her. Sounds about right, I was wondering when something like this would happen, I mean it’s not like it was ever going to actually work. You know with you being a machine, and her being human; it was only a matter of time. So, now that she no longer knows you, or knows that you were married, that means she’s open game!”

Hadrian scowled, and grabbed John up by the front of his shirt; lifting the man off the ground. “No, that doesn’t mean she’s fair game. We’re still married, she took my last name, and we have a daughter. She’s taken John, there’s no game here.” He spat, his tone getting dangerously low as John grinned. “Leave Alyss alone, John. She probably still remembers that you’re a fucking creep who tried to assault her, and if you try it again, I’ll actually make sure you’re dead this time. I’ll put you in the ground myself, and spear you with the spade for good measure.” Hadrian let John go with that, but he watched as John strolled off, probably to find Alyss. Annoyed, Hadrian followed; partly because he wanted to watch the shut down, and mostly because he was intending to beat the man down afterwards. Then Maybe shoot him, if Alyss didn’t.

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me p.4

Alyss didn’t know what it was about this man that seemed to instantly drive her crazy, but the moment he pulled her off the piano bench, it was on. He asked her for a fight and he got one – and then some. It was, in hindsight, rather embarrassing, the action she’d taken, but a part of her regretted nothing. A part of her felt that the type of fighting she’d taken part in was normal to her, as if she and Hadrian fought each other for fun time and time again, always with the same sensual ending.

But that wasn’t possible, she thought as she settled onto the bed in “her” room, she’d just met him. The issue bugged her for the rest of the night, and it wasn’t until around 5 am that she finally fell asleep, though even that was fitful rest.

Around 10 am, she dragged herself out of bed and dressed for what she assumed would be a day spent around the house. Despite the awkward feeling she still had about the previous night’s events, she walked through the house to the kitchen as if she knew the place well, and when she noticed the pot of tea left out on the counter for her, she instinctively reached for the cupboard that had the cups in it. She stopped for a moment, wondering how she knew exactly which one that was, but brushed it off as common sense with the layout of the kitchen. Tea in hand, she wandered the house until she found Hadrian outside, working on what looked to be the decimated piano stool.

“It looks like you do that often,” She commented, leaning in the door frame of the sliding glass door. Hadrian looked up briefly from his work and nodded at her. Again she had the sense that this was something they did often: her teasing him from the doorway as he fixed the piano bench after yet another of their “fights.” She frowned at the thought and shook her head. After a few moments of silence, Alyss spoke up again. “What do you do on your days off, besides fix pianos?” She asked, trying to keep the question light. She wasn’t trying to challenge him again, or get anywhere close to where they had been last night.

Hadrian sighed and sat back, seemingly done with the broken piano bench. “Normally I spend time with my daughter, but she’ll be staying with her aunt for a while longer,” He said as he stood up and stepped inside, carrying the bench. He set it down in the hall and turned to Alyss. For a moment, she thought he was hinting at the fact that her presence here was what was keeping him from his daughter, but he spoke up a moment later. “I don’t like her seeing me in such a condition,” He added, and Alyss nodded. He was still pretty beaten up, and she was sure their… fight last night hadn’t helped his healing at all.

Hadrian signaled for Alyss to follow him down the hall, and she did. He stopped in the first floor bathroom and pulled out a decently sized first aid kit and handed it to her. “I need help changing the bandages,” was all the explanation he gave, and Alyss nodded again. It wasn’t unusual for fellow agents to help one another when it came to bandages and wounds. Most of the time they came back from missions with some sort of injury, some worse than others. Hadrian removed his shirt without any formalities, and Alyss sucked in a sharp breath at the sight. He was literally covered with cuts, bruises, and deeper lacerations. Even under the bandages she could see that already. She carefully peeled back the bandages and tossed them, shaking her head the entire time. It was pretty bad, to say the least, and she couldn’t help but be curious about how exactly he’d ended up with such bad wounds – and seemingly no broken ribs.

“How did all that happen?” She asked, as she took to dressing his wounds with an expertise that all seasoned agents had. He was silent for a minute before he answered her. He flinched when she wiped at a few cuts with alcohol to clean them again, but she didn’t stop. He needed them to be cleaned, she wasn’t going to baby him to get it done.

“I was captured,” He finally spoke, and for a moment Alyss paused. He sighed and Alyss reached to grab the bandages from his home kit, starting work on that.

“How did you get captured?” She asked, not bothering to be careful around boundaries. Even though he wasn’t telling her much, she felt as if knowing the details of this was important to her, that it would help her in some way. What way that was, though, was a mystery.  The silence this time was a lot longer, and Alyss thought he wasn’t going to answer her at all. She finished dressing the wounds and sat back. After another moment, Hadrian leveled her with a stare that revealed nothing.

“I was trying to save my partner. We were ambushed, I pushed her out the window to get her out, but didn’t have time to follow,” He answered, and Alyss nodded in understanding. It wasn’t too unusual for partners to form bonds, for one to sacrifice themselves for the other.

“Did she make it out?” She asked. After all, Hadrian had made it out in the end, maybe it wasn’t an all bad story. Hadrian shook his head, though, and looked to the floor this time.

“No, she didn’t.” He said, and Alyss left it at that. She handed his shirt back to him when she was done, and left the bathroom without a word. He followed and she heard him carry the piano bench back up the stairs, while she headed towards the kitchen. Not eating had caught up to her, and she decided to prepare a decently sized lunch. It took a bit of time, and when she’d finally plated the food, Hadrian had joined her in the kitchen.

“I hope you’re hungry,” She commented, sliding one of the plates across the counter to him. He mumbled something along the lines of “I could eat,” and dug in. An awkwardness hung in the air, and Alyss couldn’t quite tell if it was because of the tension of last night or her questioning in the bathroom, or a combination of both. But Hadrian made no moves to kick her out of the house, or to go out of his way to make clear his irritation with her, so she supposed she was in the clear. She cleaned up after the meal, and Hadrian went his separate way, heading to the den at first, and then to finish up the repairs on the piano.

Alyss went up into her bedroom deciding to spend most of the day working on unfinished art pieces. She pulled her sketchbook out of the box and started to flip through to the last page she’d been working on. She stopped on the pages that she’d noticed had been torn out the day before, and ran her fingers over the rough edges. She flipped through a few more pages, and noticed another page missing. The pages had been torn out roughly, she noticed, and in quite a haste. She didn’t understand that, though. Even if she absolutely abhorred whatever she’d worked on, she never tore it out, ever.

With an odd feeling, she set her most current sketchbook aside and dug out another one. Again, several pages were missing, and going through all the sketchbooks she’d managed to keep over the year, she noticed page after page missing. The more she looked through the sketchbooks, the more she felt like something was wrong. Had someone gone through her sketchbooks and torn out random pages? Or were they tearing out specific pages? There didn’t seem to be any pattern to how many pages were left intact between each page torn out, and she couldn’t seem to remember what it was that she’d drawn on those pages. She’d felt it had all been the same thing, though, but this was yet another one of those things she couldn’t seem to remember.

For several hours she brooded over this problem, letting her hand draw out vague, formless sketches. She was hoping that if she thought about it hard enough, she’d be able to remember, or draw, whatever it was that was missing. When that didn’t work, she tried not thinking about it at all, in hopes that it would trigger some unconscious muscle movement or memory that would allow her to figure out just what she was missing. Neither worked, and eventually Hadrian knocked on her door, telling her that he’d made dinner. She looked up at him with a blank look for a moment, not realizing she’d been sitting in the room for that long, and trailed him down the stairs.

Dinner was just as silent and awkward as lunch had been, but this time it was Alyss’s doing. Her mind was reeling, trying to remember. She’d think she’d get close to remembering a detail – what drawings were missing, where she’d lived before, her daughter’s name, who her daughter’s father was, things of that nature that seemed to be alluding her, but every time she got close to remembering the detail fluttered away and she was left frustrated.

“Are you okay?” Hadrian asked from across the table, and Alyss looked at him for a moment without registering his words.

“Ah… Yeah. Just a lot on my mind,” She finally responded, though it wasn’t exactly the truth. She wasn’t fine. She felt like she was missing a huge piece of her life, and the fact that she couldn’t remember it how much she tried or didn’t try was insanely worrying. Hadrian didn’t push her though, and she helped with the clean up before heading up to the piano. Again, she tried to distract her mind in hopes of a detail surfacing, but that didn’t work, and instead she got pulled into the music. By the time she stopped because her fingers were cramping, night had fallen and a glance at the clock told her it was eleven at night. It was shocking she’d managed to waste a day, but she wasn’t too concerned about it – she had bigger things to be worried about.

One of those was her knowledge that she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Just thinking about going to bed alone was weird, and she knew she needed the comfort of someone next to her. Who that someone normally was, she couldn’t recall, but she only had one option at the moment. It was a weird request, she knew, but she left her room with every intention of asking Hadrian straight up to let her sleep in his bed. Thankfully, she didn’t need to knock on his door and possibly wake him up, as he was already coming down the hall towards her.

“Hey,” She said, and waited until Hadrian stopped walking towards her to go on. “Could I…” she stared, but stopped when he raised an eyebrow at her, as if he knew what she was asking. He didn’t say anything though, so she pushed on. “Could I sleep with you tonight?” She asked, and after a moment, he nodded. He pushed open his bedroom door and let her in first before following after.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked as they settled down, and Alyss nodded. She lay in the dark for a few moments before turning towards Hadrian.

“You know, it’s really weird,” She started, pausing while he turned to face her, too. “I can’t remember a lot of things. And these are things that should be important to me, things I should have no problem remembering,” She started, and when Hadrian didn’t say anything she went on. She could hear the tears in her voice even before she felt them, and was surprised that she was crying. She didn’t cry often, and hadn’t in quite a few years. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. “I can’t remember who my husband was, or why I refer to him as if he’s not around anymore. I can’t remember my daughter’s name, or what she looked like. I can’t even remember where I lived last week,” She said, and the path her tears took burned on her cheeks.

Hadrian didn’t say anything and she couldn’t blame him – how do you comfort someone when they can’t remember what they’re upset over? Instead he reached out and pulled her close to him and that gesture was oddly comforting to her. For a while more she stayed awake, but eventually managed to slip into a restful sleep for what she was sure the first time in weeks.

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me pt3

Hadrian had honestly expected worse, the drive back home was hard, but not too terrible; though his hands ached from how hard he had gripping the steering wheel. So when he closed to the door to the guest room, shutting her inside; he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Out of all the things that had occurred in one day, this could be counted as a step forward of sorts; but Hadrian knew that they had been taken back way past step one. All the way back to strangers. At least for her.

He lingered outside the door for another moment before heading back down the hall to the den, pressing in the code with less vigor than normal. In fact, he stopped halfway through it and rested his head against the door. “You shouldn’t have done this…, you just can’t leave things alone.” He told himself as he finally punched in the last part of the code. “But, I couldn’t just leave her there.” And he couldn’t, even if he wanted too. Alyss had become such a central part of him, and the thought of coming home alone and never having her come back was so far out there that he couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

Hadrian pushed the door closed and hadn’t even had time to sit down and process the day before his phone rang. The charm was cheery, something a little girl would like, and hearing it normally made his day. However, right at this moment; he was less than pleased to hear it. Hadrian stared at the screen, considering whether or not to decline it but Fatherly feelings won out and he answered the call.

“Daddy!” Mimi cheered as soon as she realized he was on the line, her tone letting on that she was unaware of what was going on and he would like to keep it that way. “I thought you and Mommy were coming home today…, that’s what Uncle James said the other day!” Although her tone didn’t indicate anger, he could tell she was a little upset. “I wanna come hooomme.”

Hadrian smiled a little as if she could see it, and sank down into his chair; tilting his head back to stare at the roof. “I know Mimi, but you’re going to have to stay with Aimi; I have to go back to work tomorrow, so you can’t come home yet.” Hadrian made sure his tone was gentle, hoping that his answer would please her and the subject would be changed, but that wasn’t the case. Mimi huffed loudly over the phone.

“What about Mommy then? I want to talk to Mommy and tell her I learned all my ABC’s like she asked!”

Hadrian felt his heartbreak, and he could even hear Aimi let out a small hiss of sympathy on the other end. It took him a moment to gather his voice back and when he spoke It sounded strained, though the tone went over his Daughters head completely. “No, Mommy isn’t here. She’s gone and I don’t when she’s coming back…,” It was the closest he could come to telling her the truth. Alyss was gone, and he truly didn’t know when she was coming back; if she ever did. Mimi hummed slightly, clearly disappointed but inquired if she could sing the alphabet to him instead. Hadrian agreed and listened intently as she got all the letters right, but not quite in the right order. He praised her anyways.

Soon the phone was passed off to Aimi who asked if he was holding up okay, and it took him awhile to assure her that he was. It wasn’t like Alyss was actually dead, she was just…, different. The conversation only lasted a few minutes longer, but Hadrian had never been more relived to get off the phone.

He spent the rest of the night working on paperwork, detailing their last mission; writing down the details of the abuse and what he had seen or heard after Alyss came to find him. He faltered though when it came to last few hours of the day. Instead of continuing, he just set the pen down, folded his arms on the desk; and rested his head on them. The action wasn’t intended for rest, but it’s what it became because Hadrian woke up hours later with a stiff back and neck.

He groaned and got up, staggering out the door and to his room in sleepy fog. He sighed contentedly when he hit the bed and rolled over, reaching for Alyss. Intending to pull her to him, but he grasped nothing but sheets. Hadrian clenched the covers and pulled them around him, turning his back to her part of the bed; but he pulled enough of the covers over himself to act like her weight and that was enough to lull him back to sleep through the dull heartache. However he was pulled from sleep not more than an hour later by music. It was soft, and for a moment he couldn’t place it. The song was light, soothing; something Alyss would play if she or Hadrian was stressed out. Normally it was enough to ease his nerves, but right now, it was getting on them. Hadrian forced himself to get up and walk to the piano room. She had left the door cracked, and he could see that she wasn’t paying attention to anything else than the song so she didn’t even realized he was standing in the doorway watching her until he cleared his throat.

The noise startled her badly making her miss the intended keys, and the nose the piano made was terrible. The glare he got was worse but his expression remained blank as he continued to stare her down, and she eventually looked away; though her annoyed expression remained.

“Can I help you with something Hadrian?” she asked finally, flipping through the music sheets. Her tone was as flippant as her body posture, and it irked him even more. “I mean, most people knock if they want something; they don’t scare people in the dead of night.”

Hadrian frowned at her then, but said nothing at first; only closed the cover to the keys. Making sure it made a solid thud when he did. Only then did he say something. “Yes, you can actually. You can help me by not playing that song, my wife used to play it all the time. Besides, it‘s almost three in the morning, you should be in bed.”

The request seemed reasonable but he could tell by the slight arch of her brow that she wasn’t going take this request quietly, and her gaze flicked to where his hand was; holding the cover down.

“You shouldn’t tell me what to do.” she replied curtly, brushing his hand away from the Piano. “I’m a grown woman, I don’t need a curfew. Besides, slamming that down was kinda rude.” Alyss was just about to lift it back up when Hadrian’s hand came down again, this time forcefully and he bent down as well. Making sure they were on eye level, staring each other dead in the eye.

“You seem to forget that this is my house, and though you are a grown you still need to rest. This is not so much my orders, as it is the doctors.” He paused for a moment and arched his own brow. “I hate to break it to you, I’m rude by nature; you’ll catch on to that fast. I’m especially rude when I’m tired and someone insists on playing the piano late at night. Someone who should be sleeping.”

Although he had come to her level, she amped things up by getting in his space and leveling him with a daring look. “If you want me to go to bed so badly, why don’t you make me?” She shot back dangerously, clearly daring him to try and make her listen. Alyss then stuck her finger at him, prodding him in the shoulder with it.

Hadrian knew what she was doing. This behavior was nothing new to him, and it was actually something him and Alyss liked to do, but this version of her had no earthly idea what she was asking for. Despite knowing this, Hadrian was unable to push down the energy that built up, and they could feel the air in the room change. Alyss picked up on the feeling and wasn’t able to draw her hand back fast enough before Hadrian snatched it and yanked her forward to him. She collided with his chest with a surprised sound, and Hadrian took advantage of her slight confusion to get a hold of her other hand. Once he had her secured for the moment he smirked down at her, eyes glittering with mischievousness‘. “I bet I can, want to fight me on it? Or are you going to come along quietly?” He asked, his tone was mix of emotions but it wasn’t as hard as it had been moments before. “Here, I’ll lay some rules down to make this fight fair; if I can get you out this door, you lose; and off to bed you go. However, if you can push me out; you can stay up and play whatever song you’d like until your fingers fucking fall off, I won’t stop you. And, I won’t breathe a word of you breaking doctors orders to anyone. Does this sound fair to you?”

Her shocked expression changed to a determined one and she seemed as up for it as he was. “You’ve got yourself a deal; but I’m no push over.” She warned not two seconds before she twisted from his grip and planted her foot squarely on his chest, pushing him back. She had attempted to shove him out the door with that move, but Hadrian only stepped back before kicking the door closed, smiling in her direction.

“Oh, I’m sure. Rumor has it you’re one of the deadliest Establishers, lets see how that reputation proceeds you.” Hadrian replied, sweeping low and grabbing a hold of her ankle, pulling her foot out from under her. Alyss however landed on her hands, and pulled her leg back; using his grip to send him in her direction. Once he was in her range she shoved him into the side of the Piano, and pinned him there on the ground. Alyss slammed her foot down beside his head, but he didn’t flinch at the move. Instead he leaned his head towards her leg, and lifted his hand to it; running his fingers lightly across the surface of her skin. The action made her pause and had just the effect he wanted, he could see her shiver slightly and he used the slight distraction to yank her off balance. The curses that flew from her mouth weren’t anything favorable towards him but he only laughed as he made his escape to the other end of the room. Alyss was quick to follow him.

But no matter how close they got to getting each other out into the hall; they always seemed to find a way out and the pair crashed about the room for almost an hour, the attacks getting more and more heated until Alyss crashed into him with her shoulder after she backed him against the door. Hadrian nor the door held up under the attack.  Both of them tumbled out into the Hallway.

Hadrian’s back hit the far wall knocking the breath from him and he slid down, trying to get his senses back. Alyss on the other hand recovered quickly and gathered up his wrists, pinning them above his head and curling her fingers in his hair, tugging his head to right; keeping it at an angle. She straddled his lap, her face close to his and both of them were breathing hard; glaring at each other. Hadrian’s glare turned into a wince and he hissed in pain when she jerked her hand slightly; tugging at his hair and exposing his neck. Without thinking, she bit down; eliciting a soft moan from him, his fingers clenched and he tried to pull them free but she applied more pressure as she bit down harder but It was only then that Hadrian realized just how far things were about to go, he had to stop her there. Otherwise there would be no stopping him or her, and even though she was Alyss; he couldn’t feel right about it.

“Alyss, stop.” He breathed, giving her pause. When she looked at him Her eyes were dark, her intentions written clearly in them. He was sure his was the same, but things needed to end there. “We need to stop, before we both do something we’ll regret in the morning. You won, you can stay up, do whatever you want but let me up. You need to let me up right now.” She snapped out of it a second later and let his wrists go, as well as his hair. She however wasn’t so quick to move from his lap, her expression quiet shock. Likely at how far things had gone, and he understood completely. Though they often played that game, it rarely went so far, so fast. She was feeling as much pent up feelings as he was, even if she didn’t recall them; and he had let it spiral without thinking but he was glad to have at least caught it before they really took it past the point of no return.

Hadrian carefully lifted her up, got to his feet before setting her back down carefully, making sure she wouldn’t fall to her knees. Shock sometimes had a weird effect on her but she seemed to be handling this one okay.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to um,” She started, trying to form some sort of apology to him but he held up his hand and smiled at her a little.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry that I pushed it, there’s no harm done; you didn’t do anything wrong. I am however, going back to sleep. Though you might have to find something else to pass the time, we wrecked the piano…,” he mused as he looked in at it. The keyboard was busted from her slamming him into it, and the bench from him kicking her into it. “No worries, I’ll fix it tomorrow when I get up. Ah right, there’s a small book room two halls down, you might like it.” Hadrian left her with that and headed back to the master bedroom, falling onto the bed; ignoring the feeling of need for a dead sleep.

As promised, he woke up earlier than she did. Hadrian wandered into the kitchen and put some tea on the stove and headed right to the piano room, pulling a toolkit from the closet. He then headed outside to work on some wood to repair the extensive damage. Alyss was bound to be up soon, and hopefully she’d drink the tea he left for her. Hadrian’s own drink was left on the counter for later consumption.

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t Forget to Remember Me p2

Alyss had just shoved the necklace under her bed sheets when Rose walked back into the room again. Rose didn’t seem to notice the small motion and turned to Alyss with a small smile. “The doctors say you’ll be released later today,” She told her with a small smile, and Alyss nodded back. She opened her mouth to say that she was relieved, but stopped dead when she drew a huge blank.

“Where am I being released to?” She asked slowly, trying her best to think of what her home looked like. Was it an apartment? A small house? Did she live with someone, maybe Devin? She didn’t know, and her confusion showed as her brows furrowed, and she looked down to her hands. Rose seemed to be just as confused. The blond girl tried to search for an answer, going so far as to open her mouth a few times as if she were going to say something, then promptly closing it. Rose frowned and pivoted on her heels, almost storming out of the room. Alyss could see through the glass as Rose approached the doctor that had been her primary caretaker, and it looked like quite the heated argument, which Alyss didn’t understand at all. She and Rose were friends, right? Shouldn’t Rose be able to answer the question of where she lived? She would have thought so, as she was sure she’d invited Rose over multiple times before. After some thought, however, she wasn’t quite so sure, and watched with interest as the guy who’d given back her necklace to her – Hadrian was his name – approached the two.

Rose seemed to grow angrier, and the doctor looked extremely worried. Hadrian, however, looked pleased and hopeful, and after a moment he ignored the negative body language of both the doctor and Rose and came back into her room. She watched him curiously as he took a few bold steps towards her, then faltered as he got closer. “So, there’s been a problem with the apartment you use to have. Something about flawed security, stuff like that. James suggested that I ask you if you’d like to stay with me for a while, until they get things sorted out,” He said, seeming to choose his words very, very carefully. Alyss looked to the window where Rose stood with her face in her hand, shaking her head slightly, and then back to Hadrian. She didn’t see any harm in this man and couldn’t see why Rose seemed to be trying so hard to keep him from talking to her. She hadn’t missed the fact that Rose had literally tried to push him out of the room earlier when he’d came in, before giving her back her necklace.

Something about Rose’s actions fueled her response. Rose didn’t want her to do a thing, yet Alyss felt that doing the thing may be fun, not harmful to her at all. After all, in the end they were both agents of the same establishment and she didn’t have a place to go. With Rose’s recent engagement, Alyss didn’t want to bother the girl with her lack of living space, and she was sure Devin was still getting settled in his new place, and didn’t want to bother him either. And if James had really suggested it, she would go with it. Despite his flaws and general lack of care for most of his agents, she trusted his judgement. Alyss smiled lightly and nodded. Hadrian seemed to light up even before she said a single word.

“Yeah, I guess that will work. You don’t mind?” She asked, and Hadrian shook his head vehemently, and she could tell that he was trying very hard to hide a smile. “I don’t mind at all,” He said, and let a silent moment pass before he took a step backwards. “I guess I’ll be here when you’re discharged. I uh, I have a few calls I need to make before we go,” He said, and with an awkward wave he left the room. Alyss watched with an amused smile as he was stopped by Rose. Rose was not at all pleased and it showed very clearly on her face, but Hadrian seemed to be the exact opposite, and didn’t seem to be bothered at all by what Alyss could only assume was a very harsh lecture on… Well, she wasn’t sure what it was on. Alyss watched the argument as it seemed to escalate, but only on Rose’s side. Hadrian didn’t look to get upset at all, and at the end he left with the same smile still on his face. Alyss pulled the necklace out again and turned it over in her hands again.

‘Don’t forget to remember me’ was inscribed on the back and Alyss frowned at the words there. Hadrian had said she’d worn this necklace every day, and that was one thing she could remember. She did wear it every day. However, she never remembered her necklace having words inscribed on one side. But then again, she was having a lot of problems remembering things lately, this may be one of them. She closed her hands over the necklace for a long moment before replacing it under the sheets.

For a while, Alyss was left alone in the room. Occasionally she saw a doctor pass by, and once she saw Hadrian walk by with James, and he turned to wave to her. James looked disapproving but didn’t make any motions to stop Hadrian from waving, nor did he look at Alyss. Alyss shrugged lightly as they passed, and spent the next while flipping through a book that had been left on her bedside table. It wasn’t too interesting, just a generic fiction book that had been left for her amusement, and it helped to pass the time. After a few hours the doctor who’d been with her when she woke up came in, bringing in her bag of belongings and officially discharging her.

Alyss took the time to get dressed properly, using the hospital ward showers to feel somewhat closer to human and returned to her room to grab the rest of her things. The bag really only contained her gun, Establishment ID, and personal items like her wallet and phone. She gathered the things, holstering her gun and shoving the ID and wallet into her pockets and stepped out of the room. Hadrian was waiting for her and for a moment he looked nervous, but that passed quickly. He smiled lightly at her and motioned for her to walk along with him.

“James retrieved a lot of your stuff from your… old apartment, and it’s been moved to my property. It’s kind of a mess right now, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” He said and Alyss nodded as they walked out of the Establishment. He opened the door of his Establishment-issued car for Alyss and they started the drive out to wherever Hadrian lived. It was a longer drive than she’d expected, and for the first part of it they rode in an awkward silence.

“How long have you been with the Establishment?” Alyss finally asked. Rose and Devin seemed to know Hadrian well, yet she couldn’t seem to recall ever having seen him or met him before today. Hadrian let out a harsh sigh and she could see his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

“Quite a while. About twelve years,” He answered rather curtly. Alyss frowned and shook her head for a second. How odd, she’d been with the Establishment for about twelve years as well. It was really odd that they’d never met before now. After that, Alyss tried to ask a few more questions, though she stepped carefully. She remembered that he’d mentioned losing someone that he loved earlier in the day, when she’d asked why he looked so upset. She did her best to avoid questions that might step anywhere near those boundaries, but the conversation was still awkward.

Eventually though they reached the property and walked up the steps. It was on a large piece of land, but the house itself was a moderate size. A simple two-story surrounded on all sides by acres of lands, scattered occasionally with clumps of trees. “It looks pleasant out here,” She said softly, admiring the quietness of the area. Hadrian hummed in response and opened the door, allowing Alyss to enter first. The entrance was plain, simple, but the living room that Alyss was shown into as Hadrian showed her around the house. It was something Alyss would have created for herself, a lush room with a large couch that looked comfortable enough to sleep on. Plants littered the tables, the windowsills, the top of the TV stand, growing well in their little pots. Candles were placed on the table and looked well-used. It was, in Alyss’s opinion, quite the paradise of a living room. “Looks like a room I’d make for myself. Great taste,” She said, and she could watch Hadrian’s expression move from humor to grief to a neutral blank all in two seconds.

She frowned, wondering if she’d touched a chord and turned to follow Hadrian from the room. He passed a den he’d claimed as an office, another small living room that looked more like a family room. Toys were scattered about as if a kid had been in the room recently, and Alyss stopped for a moment, something pulling at her to pick up the nearest toy to her. It looked familiar, like something her own daughter had. “You have a child, too?” She asked. It was actually quite rare for agents to form families, with the high level of danger they were in constantly, and the fact that they were gone all the time. Hadrian sighed and nodded slowly, and though Alyss knew that this may be crossing a line, she decided to ask more about it.

“I have a daughter. She’s about five years old now. They won’t let me see her, I don’t know why. I just know that she’s with a family member for now...” Alyss started, looking around the room once more. Yes, this was definitely more of a family room, with the dining room next to it and the kitchen just past. “What about your child?” She asked, and watched as Hadrian seemed to go through a mix of emotions. When he spoke, he didn’t meet her eyes.

“I have a daughter, too. She’s with her aunt right now since her mother… Well, her aunt takes care of her a lot, when I’m gone. She’ll probably stay with her aunt for a while longer,” He finally said, though the words seemed to hurt him. He motioned for her to follow along and took them to the upper floor. There was the master, Hadrian’s bedroom, as well as his child’s bedroom and a guest room. The guest room already had most of her things in it, from what she could tell. Obviously James had done a thorough job of cleaning out Alyss’s apartment, at least for the necessary things. She was happy to see her box of sketchbooks in one corner, with the most recent one lying on top. She smiled lightly and turned to Hadrian.

“Thank you, for taking me in,” She said softly, looking over the room. It was rather bare and she supposed it wasn’t used much, but she didn’t mind. It was a place to go since, apparently, she didn’t have anywhere else. He nodded, brushing off the statement as if it were nothing and started to turn from the room. He stopped in the doorway and turned back.

“Are you hungry?” He asked, as if the question of food were an afterthought for him. It was already late in the evening and she was sure that he had things to do, so she shook her head. After all, she’d be okay with whatever they’d given her during her hospital stay. “Well, you’re welcome to anything in the house, so… Make yourself at home. I’ll be in my office for a while, but it’s late; you should probably sleep.” He said and closed the door behind him as he left.

Alyss sat on the bed for the briefest of moments, before standing right back up. The room was bare and lifeless and she couldn’t stand that. She went to work unpacking her clothing, putting up her sketchbooks and books up on the few shelves in the room. She was sure Hadrian wouldn’t mind her settling in, at least until she had another place to go. After all, she’d be sure to leave the room better than she found it when she went.

After unpacking as much as she could, Alyss settled onto the bed with her sketchbook and flipped through the pages. She stopped though when she noticed that pages had been torn out and she frowned. That was odd, she never tore pages out of the sketchbooks. She closed it and set it aside, trying to work through the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. She couldn’t remember much of anything it seemed, and now she was tearing ages out of her sketchbooks? No, this wasn’t right. She should know who the father of her child was, but she was drawing a blank. Hell, she should be able to easily recall the name of her child, as well as where she lived and who her child stayed with while she was on missions. But she couldn’t remember any of that, and it was incredibly frustrating. She tried to pass it off to a long mission, a horrible headache, and a deep exhaustion and settled down to go to bed.

Sleep didn’t come easy, though, and for several hours she tossed and turned. At one point she could hear Hadrian leave his office and go into his bedroom, just down the hall from hers. It was already late at that point, and for a while after she’d heard him go into his own room, she gave up on sleeping and tried to focus in on what was wrong. Because something was obviously wrong, she could feel it, but she didn’t know what it was. After a while of that, she sat up, frustrated, and wrapped her robe around her and left the room. Instead of going down the hall to Hadrian’s room to ask him if he might know what was wrong with her, she turned to the right. There had been one room on this floor that he hadn’t shown to her and she was curious. He’d told her to make herself at home, after all, and it was easier to feel comfortable if she knew what was in every room in a house.

After a moment of indecision and a small moral dilemma, she pushed the door opened and was pleasantly surprised at what she saw. A large piano sat in the center of the room and the décor of the rest of the room was much like the first living room. Small plants lay on the windowsill and there were shelves full of books and small objects. A few pieces of art were hung up, but Alyss didn’t bother to look at those. Instead she took a seat at the piano, figuring a few song played out would help to ease her mind. She ran a few scales to get a feel for the keys before diving right into her favorite songs, not caring to take a moment to wonder if the noise would bother Hadrian, or if he’d hear the soft notes at all.

[catching-those-stars]

I should get a scanner or something other than my phone. Anyways, here's Hadrian and Alyss post mission catching up sleep in a really cramped area. I kinda gave up a bit on Hadrian’s legs. I'm better at drawing girls than guys but I've had the image in my head for awhile. Sorry about all the lines and overall mess, I didn't dare ink it. I haven't forgotten the squad one either, promise.

[catching-those-stars]

Don’t forget to remember me.

“Are you calm?”

The question wasn’t normally asked, but Devin seemed to feel the need to inquire about it as she approached the building where Hadrian’s signal was located. It had going in and out steadily for a few hours; having just shown back up on the Establishments radar that day. Hadrian had gone missing a few weeks ago after they had taken a new team with them. It turned out they had been set up; and Hadrian had pushed her out the window as the room was broken into; allowing her to escape. However, no one had heard anything from him until now, so she slowed her approach to the old building as soon as the question was asked. Alyss made sure to even out her breathing before she replied. “Of course Devin, it’s not like I’m sprinting towards the doors.” She wanted to though, she really wanted to. The snort on the other line made her crack a slight smile but it faded as she neared the doors.

The Establishment had the whole place surrounded; making sure that nothing would go wrong in retrieving Hadrian. Him and Alyss were the best they had; they didn’t mind mounting such a large rescue. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open and stepped in, propping it open a little to let some light in. The place was dark, and smelled of rot. Alyss also picked up on the smell of blood; it was strong and hung heavy in the air. The normal protocol would call for her to ask for guidance to his location by some woman in Headquarters, instead she had a different idea. “Hadrian?” Even though she asked the question quietly, it seemed to echo throughout the room. In its wake she heard something off to her right shift, but the movement ceased a second later. Turning in that direction she stepped forward a few paces before calling out again, this time louder. “Hadrian?!” This time there was thud, and a door to side of her crashed open, and a large figure stood in its wake, but something was off. The figure wasn’t quite standing, more leaning forward, and one arm hung useless by its side and in the darkness it took her a second to realize it was Hadrian she was looking at. She reached for her flashlight, and aimed it in his direction, gasping at the sight. There wasn’t an inch of exposed skin that she could see that wasn’t cut or covered in blood, and she had to stop herself from stepping back in surprise as he stepped forward. But he didn’t get far, maybe two steps past the door before he fell forward. Alyss rushed ahead, catching him before he made complete impact, but her actions meant grabbing a hold of him and it cause him to scream. The sound was raw, and he twisted her grip; trying to free himself but the fight seemed to go out of him a moment later and he stayed still. She could feel him shaking in her hands, or maybe that was her. Alyss couldn’t tell.

She shifted a bit, and made him sit up, steeling herself against the sounds of pain he made with every move. Once she had that done, she looked up at his face; only to find it covered. Carefully she reached up and removed it. Alyss bit her lip as she observed the damage, trying not scream in anger. His lips were busted; there was extensive bruising that ran down one side of his face all the way down to his collar bone as if he had been kicked repeatedly. If she hadn’t known, there was no way she could even tell that his hair was supposed to be white. It was matted down, and dark with dried blood and grime. However, what was bothering the most were his eyes. They were open, and he was looking at her, but it was like he wasn’t seeing anything. He wasn’t seeing her. She couldn’t even see pupils. “Hadrian, can you hear me?” She asked, watching his face. He didn’t blink, but he tensed under her hands. It was something, a reaction to her voice.

But she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Devin who had been silent spoke up, his tone urgent. “Alyss, you need to take cover and hide.” It wasn’t a suggestion but she frowned anyways, tapping back on the piece harshly. “Are you kidding, I have Hadrian right here!” She shot back quietly, gripping Hadrian’s hand tightly. “Are you honestly expecting me to leave him again?!” There was period of silence before Devin spoke again.

“Hide Alyss, there’s at least six of them. You aren’t any good to Hadrian dead. Back up is coming, just stay out of sight until then.”

Alyss growled, and rested her hand on Hadrian’s cheek a bit, not expecting him to lean into it like he did. The action was heartbreaking considering she had to pull back and place the blinder back on his head on a second later. “I’ll be right back, I promise.” She took cover behind some crates as a few men can into the room, and stopped just short of Hadrian. They looked between the room he had crashed out of and where he was now, all of them clearly annoyed.

“Thought you could escape?” The first one asked, leaning down a bit to pull the cover right back off. “You pulled free of the post, so you’ve obliviously got some fight left in you.” In response Hadrian only turned his head away, looking in her direction. Alyss felt her heart stop as they made eye contact, actual contact. She could see the situation dawning on him as he became lucid enough to realize that she was there. Whatever mental state he had retreated to beforehand was gone, and it was probably her fault. She had made him feel safe, and so he came to thinking that he was in good hands. His attention was taking from her as the first man grabbed his chin and forced him to look up; punishing the defiant look Hadrian gave him with a solid punch to the jaw. “Look at me when I talk to you.”  Hadrian fell to the side, but struggled to get up afterwards, only to get pushed onto his back. Again the man from before stood over him, sneering; enjoying the cries of pain the actions were eliciting. The others in the room seemed to be there just in case things got out hand, but clearly that wasn’t going to be problem. Everyone remained still for a minute or two, watching Hadrian attempt to get up again. The moment someone laughed Alyss’s Expression changed to a snarl, and it must have caused a spike in her vitals because Devin spoke up again this time very worried.

“Relax Alyss, stay calm.”   —

He honestly couldn’t muster the power to push the boot that was holding him down off his shoulder. There was nothing left in his reserves, he had used that up to remain somewhat awake while he put himself into auto, hoping that by the time he came to he would be free. However, this was not the case, and he bit back a cry as the boot ground down on the broken shoulder. Alyss was here, and she was watching everything. Hadrian panted as the foot was lifted off his shoulder, only to have someone sit on his waist. The pressure was light and he met a twisted gaze with a blank one. He couldn’t let them know, no matter how much he wanted to look back at her again, he had to keep looking at them. Hadrian however could still see her out of the corner of his eye, and he saw the expression she made the moment hands were wrapped around his neck. But that was about it because his attention right then became not being choked to death in front of her. He twisted his whole body, somewhat throwing the other man off balance but he soon felt other hands join in on holding him down; and the choking resumed. This time tighter than before. “I’m tired of keeping you here you piece of shit. You aren’t any use to us, so just face that you’re going to die here.” He words were hissed, and Hadrian couldn’t even spit anything back as his vision faded. All systems were shutting down right after the other, and Hadrian grappled uselessly against the grip with his good arm. Really the only thing he could do was grip it in hopes he’d have enough strength left to crush the bone.

He wasn’t sure when he lost consciousness, but when he came to a bit he could hear blood curdling screams, and they weren’t female. At least not the screams. The shouting was female, and she sounded enraged. Alyss was mad, he could tell but he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t even open his eyes or call out to her. Instead he just listened to the sound of his captors screaming until the Establishment busted in. After that it was chaos, they attempted to restrain her but she fought back; it eventually took Devin showing up but she was mad at him as well.

“I could have saved him!” She shouted angrily, heading his way. “Now, now he’s dead, and it’s my fault. This is my fault…, and it’s yours!” He felt a grip on his wrist as she checked for a pulse but he knew she wouldn’t find what she was looking for. He was hardly breathing as it was, his heart rate would be incredibly low. “Stay where you are, stay calm. This all my fault, I should have never listened, I shouldn’t have waited. He suffered so much, and then he suffered more! All because he thought he was safe, all because I hid away.” She dropped his hand, and he could feel blood on the ground, and this time it wasn’t his. Alyss’s rant continued on, but Hadrian was slipping away; heeding the call of rest he had ignored for so long.

– By the time he opened his eyes again, he was actually safe and he was in the recovery ward of the Establishment. However, to his surprise his room was empty. There was no sign that anyone had come to visit lately, and he honestly didn’t know how long he had been there. His broken shoulder ached, and he was wrapped up from the neck down in bandages. Hadrian frowned a little at the silent room. Normally Alyss would be sitting nearby, or at least outside the door but he couldn’t even hear her anywhere close by. The humanoid sat up a little and reached for the clipboard, looking it over. He bypassed the injuries list and went straight for the visitors. Only one, and it had been Rose but the visit had been a week ago. Concern gripped him as the memory of her anger came back, and he wondered if guilt was keeping her away. He honestly hoped not, after all, he was clearly alive.

Hadrian pulled back the covers and got up, ignoring the pain as he left the room. He needed to find Alyss and make sure she was alright, and assure her that he was okay now. A quick scan of the hall didn’t turn up anything, and he found Devin instead. “Devin!” He called, catching the man by surprise. “Where is Alyss?” The question shouldn’t have caused the reaction that it did; Devin looked away from him and took a slight step back. Hadrian in response took another step forward. “Devin, where is Alyss? Is she hurt, is she dead?!” Dead could be the only reason Devin would be acting this way, but Hadrian’s worry about that was quickly put to rest when Devin shook his head.

“No, she isn’t dead but Hadrian, you can’t see her.” Devin informed him slowly, watching Hadrian’s confused expression carefully. He took the humanoids stunned silence as a go ahead to explain himself. “You see, after she found you; well, you died.”

Hadrian frowned slightly and shrugged, unsure what that had to do with anything. “I die a lot Devin. Besides, I’m right here aren’t I?” Unfortunately Hadrian had a bad habit of nearly dying, or taking the brunt of attacks and sure this time it was a lot worse than normal but that was no reason for him not to be able to see Alyss. “So, you’re saying I’m not allowed to see her at all?”

Devin frowned at him. “No, I’m saying that you it’s your best interest not to.” He amended quietly, shifting a bit. “She snapped Hadrian, after they finished with you, she just lost it and no one could calm her down. After they got you here, it took so many tries to get your vitals back, even then they were very weak. Even Umino had little hope, and it just made things worse, and she just spiraled from there. So Please- Hadrian, wait!”

Hadrian didn’t wait, he keep walking. As Devin was talking, he had heard Alyss’s voice, it was faint but now he knew where she was. Devin was still calling after him but he ignored him, just like he was ignoring his screaming side. Hadrian pushed the door open, and looked around; spotting Rose just off to the side. Alyss was with her, and just as he started in their direction Rose came up to him, stopping him short. Moving in his way every time he tried to go around her. “Rose, don’t start. I just want to see Alyss.” He warned as he tried once again to go around her but this time Rose gripped his wounded shoulder and pushed him back a ways.

“Hadrian, don’t do that to yourself.” She said quietly, before taking in his blank look. “Oh, no one told you. Hadrian, Alyss doesn’t know who you are.” Rose spit the words out fast, trying to get it over with and it took a moment for Hadrian to actually get what she was saying and he must have looked skeptical because she expanded on the statement. Trying to get across that she was serious. “Hadrian, they wiped her memory of you to save her. She was going insane, and they figured it was the only way. It worked, she’s fine now but she doesn’t know you Hadrian, and I don’t know if you can handle this right now.” Hadrian looked past towards Alyss who was watching them curiously and he felt his chest tighten when they made eye contact. However, Alyss merely looked away a second later, unconcerned with him. He wanted all of what she said to be a lie, but it looked to be the truth.

Hadrian stood back, and rubbed at his shoulder; attempting to come up with something to say. “What does she remember?” If not him, then what? She was still in the building, so clearly the Establishment wanted to keep her as a spy.  

Rose looked back and frowned a little. “Everything except you, and all that you guys went through. They just finished the wipe early today.., she remembers us and the Establishment but not you. Memories were planted to fill the gaps.”

Hadrian hated how calm Rose sounded, and he hated it even more when she pressed something into the palm of his hand before walking back towards Alyss. He uncurled his fingers to see the shooting star necklace in his palm and he almost broke down there, but he wasn’t ready to do that yet. No, instead he sat on the other side of the room with a thin pick and went to carving something into the back of the necklace. Rose having thought he left, went to get something to eat and left Alyss alone. That was when Hadrian approached her, slowly. She watched him the entire time with an arched brow and by the time he made it to her, Alyss looked amused.

“How long have you been sitting in that corner?” she asked curiously, her tone was friendly and it gave him hope. However, it was quickly dashed. “I was wondering when you’d stop hiding and introduce yourself. I’m Alyss.” She offered her hand out to him, and he took it, giving a weak shake. “And now it’s time for you to say something instead of stare, cause it’s a little creepy.”

Her reminder was gentle and he managed a smile in reply before actually saying something. “Sorry, I’m Hadrian. I actually wanted to give something back to you. You dropped this the other day, and they don’t like to let jewelry in the wards but you always wear it so, I thought I’d give it back to you. Make sure they don’t see it, they might take it.” he said lightly, forcing himself to sound friendly instead of heartbroken. She really didn’t remember him, and he tried to let his hand linger on hers as he passed the necklace off to her. “Anyways, I better get out of here soon before Rose comes back.” As he turned away from the bed, she grabbed his arm and stopped him, a frown lacing her lips.

“Oh, thanks.., But you seem upset, are you all right? You can sit down if you want.” The offer was kind, and he pulled his arm away from her carefully but didn’t turn back around to face her. “Oh yeah. I just lost someone I loved, nothing you need to worry yourself about. Get some rest now Alyss. I’m sure we’ll see each other again eventually.” Hadrian could feel her frowning harder without even having to look at her but he quickly exited the room. His chest hurt, breathing was difficult and it wasn’t because of the injuries. He had been warned, and yet he clung to hope. Hope that was ruthlessly torn from him, and he didn’t know what else to do but give her the necklace. He head carved the words ’Don’t forget to remember me.’ into it as a effort try and trigger something,to make her realize that she may have forgotten something but the chances were small. Hadrian hadn’t even gone two feet before he bumped into Devin and was pulled into a tight hug. “She doesn’t remember me at all, nothing. They didn’t even leave her my name Devin. Not even my name.” The words were choked out, and Devin went down with Hadrian as he collapsed to the floor, hugging him tighter as tears started to streak down his face. “There’s nothing, she doesn’t, all of our memories are gone. Devin, she doesn’t love me anymore. She just looked at me, like I was stranger. What am I going to tell Kagami, or Aimi?” Hadrian sat back for a second and aimed a tearful glare at the floor, his expression close to scowl. “If they knew this would be the end result they should have just let me die for good. It’d probably be less painful, or wiped my memory too. They’re sick, they enjoy this Devin; I know they do.” Devin sighed but said nothing, only pulled Hadrian to him again. Hadrian let lose a gut wrenching cry, and gripped at Devin’s arms. Hadrian couldn’t seem to get rid of the ache no matter how much he cried, or screamed. “At least she’s alive…,” he muttered to himself after awhile. “At least she’s alive.” Of all the people to provide comfort, Devin was more suitable in this area and he let Hadrian sob into his shirt. Aiming deadly looks at anyone who dared look down at them for more than a moment. – In the recovery room Alyss turned the necklace over in her hands in thought, inspecting it before hiding it away the moment her door opened.

[catching-those-stars]

Neighbors.

The day had been lazy mostly, and that was fine with Hadrian. He had returned home late last night after being away for a couple months on an extensive undercover mission that seemed to grow more complicated the more they dug up. Alyss had waited up for him, greeting him sleepily from the doorway before wandering off to bed. Having slept on the way to Headquarters he was rested and spent the rest of the night finishing off the paperwork and cooking breakfast once it hit six. Mimi had woken up around Seven, and Alyss close to Ten. Since then they had mostly remained in the living room, just mingling. Alyss was perched on the arm of the couch, leaning against him as she read and Hadrian had Mimi in this lap while he played her hair; his phone was open and a video of how to properly braid hair was playing quietly. Though in his lap Mimi was anything but still, swinging her legs, making sure her heels made a solid thump against the couch. “Is it done?” She asked, turning her head, pulling her hair right out of Hadrian’s hands. “It feels done.” Hadrian sighed as he watched the locks unwind every time Mimi turned her head a different way to get a better look. She eventually reached behind her to feel the no longer existent braid, and shot him a pout when she couldn’t find one. “Wow, Daddy you really suck at braiding.” She informed him dully. “Mommy can do it in no time! Especially on school days, she’s fast.” Hadrian frowned down at his daughter as she continued to patronize him about braiding, but he shot a glare at Alyss who was snickering behind her book.

“I’ll have you know Mimi,” He said firmly, turning her head to face forwards. “I had a braid, but you ruined It when you turned your head. Don’t turn around until I say I’m done.” Mimi mumbled a reply as Hadrian went back to work, and he pretended he didn’t see Alyss peeking at his progress. They let him work in peace for a few minutes before Alyss finally spoke up.

“There’s supposed to be three locks of hair.” The information was given to him gently but he could hear the laughter in Alyss’s voice. Sighing, he combed out his work and patted Mimi on the back signaling her to get up. “I give up, let your Mom do it.”

Mimi bounced over to Alyss who picked the girl up, and started working on her hair. Hadrian sat back and watched his wife work. She moved fast, and it took less than a minute to finish the braid. “See, easy as pie.” She chirped, setting Mimi back down on the floor. “Hair just isn’t your thing. Hey..,” Her tone right then indicated she was about to say something he wouldn’t like and so he regarded her warily in response; taking in the huge grin she was aiming at him.  “Remember when you got your fingers tangled in my hair trying to braid it and it took Rose and Devin to get us free of each other? Hm, good times, good times.” 

Hadrian snorted, and looked away from her. “Good times? Alyss I couldn’t tell if you were livid or amused. It was a terrible mix of both.” It had taken two people to untangle him from Alyss’s hair, and he couldn’t seem to live it down. Even years later. “I was hoping you had forgotten about it honestly. I would like to forget it ever happened, and it was your idea anyway. A terrible awful idea.” He added as she laughed, hiding her face behind the book she had. Her laughter was contagious but his quickly died out when Hadrian picked up the rumbling of an engine. It was approaching, quickly.

Alyss stopped laughing as soon as she caught his expression, and grabbed Mimi as he stood up. None of the alarms had gone off, and yet the sound was closer and well past the perimeter he had set up. Hadrian grabbed his gun and headed for the door, pacing his steps with the sound of those outside. Their home was well protected, Hadrian had set up camera’s everywhere throughout their property, and alarms at every seven feet, then five feet as he got closer to their home. So he was very concerned that nothing had been triggered. As soon as their door was knocked on, Hadrian pulled up the view from the camera, frowning when he saw what looked to a regular man. He was dressed plainly, jeans, and a tee shirt, no sign of any weapon or any form of protective gear. Alyss looked from around his side and frowned as well. “That’s odd.” She mused, speaking his thoughts. “I don’t think he’s threat. He’s way too bold.., go see what he wants. I’m going to put Mimi down for a nap. I’ll be right back.”  

Hadrian waited until the pair was upstairs before actually answering the rapid knocks on their door. The man stepped back as Hadrian pulled the door open, not expecting to someone much larger than him to be on the other side. Nor for that person to be wearing a very irritated expression, and it showed as the man smiled weakly up at Hadrian. “Hey there neighbor!” There was a second of silence as he waited for Hadrian to greet him back. A greeting that wasn’t returned. “I had seen your place from my plane yesterday, and thought I’d swing by and finally meet the only neighbors I’ve got. I’m just six miles out…” Hadrian’s continued silence and stare were clearly bothering the young man but he went on anyways, undeterred. “I’m Sam. I just moved out here a few weeks ago. It’s my new vacation spot. It’s good to know there’s some other people around here.” Hadrian finally looked away from Sam and towards the quad he had used to get up to them. Alyss and him had picked a secluded spot up towards the mountains, and woods. It was hard to get to, that was the point. Silence fell between them again, but this time it was Hadrian who spoke. “Sam, I’ll take you aren’t from around here.” He said carefully. Sam nodded, and Hadrian sighed, stepping fully outside. He wasn’t going to offer his own introductions though. “Right, so given this information I’ll let your lack of manners slide. There’s a reason people move out so far away from any town, or city. Can you guess what that one reason might be?” “They want to be left alone?” The answer was slow and hesitant but Hadrian nodded, smiling at the young man but it came across as forced. “Right, they want to be left alone. But you came up all this way so I‘m not going to send you away so soon, and I’m honestly curious as to what path you took to get here.”

Alyss stepped up behind him a minute later and inspected the sight before her with blank expression, not letting a single thought show on her face. It was clear that it unnerved their neighbor as he shot her a nervous smile that she didn’t even attempt to return. At least Hadrian had shown some sort of expression. Hadrian arched a brow as Alyss turned to him, and shrugged slightly. “He doesn’t look all that scary to me.” she stated lightly, finally aiming a cheerful smile at the man. It didn’t seem to ease his nerves any, if anything it probably scared him more. It was quick switch of emotions that Hadrian was long used to, however it was still considered odd by other people. “The only threatening thing is his Body odor, that could kill.” “He can you hear you.” “I know.”

Hadrian fought back a grin as she wrapped her arms around his left one, she was seeing how far they could push the guy and Hadrian was willing to play along. Sam at this point had taken another step or so back but seemed determined not to bolt away. He was close though, they just needed to something to push him over the edge. Alyss seemed to find it as she reached around his waist, and pulled back slightly in fake surprise; nudging him a bit. “Oh dear, is that a Gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” She purred, uncaring of the blush that spread across Sam’s cheeks upon hearing her. Hadrian paused a moment before bending down towards her slightly, but his gaze flicked to Sam when he spoke. “It’s most certainly a gun.” His reply was smooth, and she hummed slightly.

“Really now, is it deadly?” The question was flirty, and he smirked; shrugging at her a little. “Absolutely, very deadly; here let me show you. I’ll just test it out.” Hadrian hadn’t even completely drawn the weapon out before Sam took off for his Quad. The motor rumbled to life, and he sped off back down into the woods. Alyss and Hadrian stood there for a bit, listening to the sound the motor fade off into the distance.

“Do you think he’ll come back?” Alyss asked lightly, but Hadrian shook his head. He was busy tracking the path so he could come back later and arm it. He needed to fix the blind spot before nightfall. “Not a chance in hell.” There was no way that Sam was coming back, and Hadrian hoped he’d tell other people to avoid them. It would be the best thing for all of them.

[argentlune]

Fallout Au: Hit me Baby!

All of this was a horrible idea, a terrible idea, and yet, here he was. Clinging to the outside of this stupid car that Alyss was driving, racing down the wasteland like their lives depended on it. Which in fact it did. Hadrian scowled and attempted to haul himself up onto the top of the car where they had mounted a makeshift-gun. Alyss was speeding, pressing the peddle down to the floor, and weaving around to evade the gunfire coming at them. A good tactic to stay alive, a terrible one if you’re trying to climb up the side of it. “Could you maybe drive in a straight-line for a minute?!” he yelled, hoping to god she could hear him over the sound of gunfire. “You’re going to throw me off!” His complaint went unnoticed as she rounded a sharp corner, drifting onto an actual road; and he risked lifting his hand to his ear to press down on the ear piece they had gotten working. A saving grace left over from their days in the Establishment before the world went to shit. “Alyss! For fucks sake, drive straight, I can’t climb up if you try to throw me off at every turn!” He shouted, knowing she could every well hear him now. Her end of the line was silent for a moment before she hummed lightly, it sounded like fake surprise. “What’s that? Drive faster and take that corner?” She asked, jerking the car to the right. Hadrian’s head smacked against the side of ladder, and he clung harder to the car. “FUCKING OW. ALYSS, I’M ASKING YOU TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.” .

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I am taking this seriously. Very seriously.” Alyss replied before weaving the car again to make her point. Hadrian for the moment gave up on trying to reason with her, inching up the side until he got to where he needed to be. Cursing Alyss to hell and back the whole way.

“Would your Alyss do this?” She asked casually, as if she wasn’t trying to actively kill him by throwing him off. Hadrian ignored her, pretending he didn’t hear the question. “Hadrian, I asked you something. It’s rude to ignore people.” Something about her tone implied that he was treading dangerous waters, but he didn’t care. He simply continued to ignore her until she slammed the brakes on, causing the perusing vehicle to slam into the back of them and lurch him backwards into the hood of the car, where he could glare at her face to face. “Would she do that?” The question was so casual, and he hated it. He also hated that little smirk she was wearing.

“NO. MY ALYSS WOULDN’T BE ACTIVELY TRYING TO ME KILL ME.” He shot back, pointing furiously at her through the windshield as she speed back up. “In fact she’d be really pissed off at you. You know what, how you about you channel that forgotten side for a bit, and LET ME LIVE.” There was laughter on the other side as he climbed back up to the roof, not even bothering to try and repair the broken gun he had come up for. It would be a waste of time.

Currently, Alyss’s memories were coming back, in fragments; nothing serious. She was still for the most part, holding tightly to her Raider personality; which tended to shine through in moments like this. Hadrian had gotten used to it over the course of the six months he had been with her, but that didn’t mean he liked it. In fact, he despised it sometimes, and this was one of those times. Raiders loved fear, they thrived off of it, and Alyss knew for damn sure he was afraid to get thrown off the car and she was enjoying it. Taunting him, as well as taunting the enemies. He just needed to get rid of the source of their main issue, and this ordeal would be over and as well as her power trip.

Hadrian pulled a length of rope out of his bag, and tied himself down. Making sure he was secured before unshouldering his sniper rifle. Normally he liked to have his stand set but, at the moment, there was no real way to do so. Instead he just knelt down, wincing as bullets grazed him as well as hit their mark. Being a humanoid had it’s advantages out in the wasteland, being made of metal was one of them. Bullets rarely did any good unless they were amour pricing, but those were hard to come by these days. Regular ones just torn at the flesh, not much else. “Keep the car steady, I’m going to try and take out their driver.” He told her, praying that she would listen. Hadrian smiled slightly when the speed of their car decreased, and she actually took a straight path; allowing him to actually look down the scope, and aim at the driver behind them. The smile vanished though as the bullet he fired was stopped dead by bullet proof glass. “Fuck me.” He muttered, looking back down the scope to see if they had any windows open. They didn’t. “Hadrian, what happened?” “Bullet proof glass, get me beside them if you can.”   “You won’t have any luck with the windows…,” “I know.”

She slowed them down even more, pulling off to the side so that the two vehicles were side by side, and he could see the sneers without the scope. “Make sure your windows are rolled up.” It was a fair warning, but Alyss scoffed at it nonetheless. “Of course they are, I don’t have a death wish.” The sound of bullets hitting the glass on her side didn‘t help make her case. Hadrian laughed a bit then aimed again, this time taking out the tires on the van. Alyss pulled forward slightly, letting aim at the other front tire. Once he had done that, he sat back a bit, watching the other car fade into the distance. “Got em.” He could hear Alyss cheering into the ear piece, and for the moment her erratic driving was no longer needed. Hadrian however, waited ten minutes before actually untying himself and climbing back into the cab of the car with her. “That was a little surprising.” She remarked as he settled in, and he frowned at her slightly; unsure of what she meant. “You seemed pretty leveled headed considering the situation. Normally people would be panicking.”

It was a valid point. “Yeah, I had training to fall back on. I worked in high stress situations like this all the time. We both did.” Hadrian added the last bit as an after thought, taking her side glance as an invitation to explain what he meant. “We both worked for a group called the Establishment before everything went to hell, we were trained for things like this, including car chases that shot at you. That was nothing new, but I haven’t had to do it awhile.” He let her sit on that as he opened the hatch on his wrist and pulled a couple wires loose, connecting them to cars dashboard. His actions didn’t go unnoticed.

“Hadrian, what are you doing, Doesn’t that hurt?” The question was gentle, almost concerned and he smiled a little but didn’t reply. Instead he leaned back and closed his eyes, pulling all the memory files into view and started combing through them. “What are doing?” The question that time didn’t sound as gentle as before, but it certainly held more concern. “Hadrian…,” she warned slowly, reaching out to disconnect the wires. Hadrian smacked her hand out of the way, and she in turn punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t smack me!”

“You started it.” He reminded her lightly, as he pulled up a file and sent it down the open pathways. “I’m just getting my revenge.” That really got her attention and she shook her head, reaching for the wires again. He swatted her aside with ease, and she glared; pressing down on the gas again to try and scare him into stopping. Hadrian only grinned broadly, turning the volume up. Alyss on the other hand was giving him a last warning look. One he easily ignored.

‘Oh baby, baby’ “Hadrian, Turn it off..,” Another warning, and like the other it was ignored. ‘How was I supposed to know, that something wasn’t right here’ “HADRIAN. I’M SERIOUS. DON’T FUCKING DANCE TO IT, HAVE SOME PRIDE.”

Hadrian laughed, as he gestured at her dramatically; mouthing the words in between his fits of laughter. And as much as she tried to hide it, he caught her singing along with it. “Have some Pride Alyss, you act like you know the song or something.” He mocked, earning himself a painful punch to the arm again but leaving him with the perfect opening. One Alyss saw coming a mile away because she tried to stop him. “Hadrian don’t you do it.” “HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!”

She did. She did hit him one more time, and then a second and third time as he continued to sing at her. She wasn’t aiming to hurt, in fact she was mostly just flailing at with one arm in attempt to make him shut up. “Hadrian, if you don’t stop I swear to god!” He smirked at the threat, and sat back. “Or what, you’ll turn the car around?” The there was moment of silence as the song ended and he could almost hear taking his words into account. Hadrian braced himself as she swung the car around, and revved the engine. Her threat was clear, and pointless but now it was a matter of pride; and Hadrian wasn’t going to back down. In fact, he stepped up the game.

‘Seven a.m., waking up in the morning, Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs..,’

The car lurched forward as soon as the song came on and Alyss shot him a horrified look which only made him laugh harder. ‘Kickin’ in the front seat, Sittin’ in the back seat’

“Oh my god Hadrian, you know I hate this song. Hadrian please, this awful!” Despite her protesting, she was smiling; and even if she hadn’t realized it, she had let him know that she remembered something. That she was aware that he knew something about her. It was large step forward brought on by a silly revenge game. The song played on as they sped back towards where they had stranded the group that had been chasing them down. As they passed, Alyss and Hadrian rolled their windows down, sticking their middle fingers up as they passed. Backstreet boys blaring in the background now, and both of them singing along rather loudly. Anyone within a two block radius could hear the music, and neither of them cared.

– — –

LOOK, NO ANGST. IT’S A MIRACLE.

Not writing angst for them is hard considering the plot of this Au is largely unhappy. This prompt is just a side story of that, follow catching-those-stars if you want the actual storyline. This is just some humor and fluff maybe.

Aside from the song lyrics, Alyss’s speech is in italics when she’s talking through the ear piece.

miss-rattus, There I’m all done~

[miss-rattus]

"you're not dressed warmly enough."

“You’re not dressed warmly enough,” Hadrian scolded as he gave Alyss a boost over the fence. They were breaking out of the Establishment’s boarding school, but just for a night. They’d recently made their relationship official , and with the separate dorms, full class schedules, and new friendships, they’d barely had a moment to just be together. But tonight was different.

They were sure the Establishment was watching them even as they walked away from the school property. The Establishers didn’t need to worry, though. They weren’t going far, just to a small hill that Alyss had spotted through the school’s fences earlier in the day. She’d deemed it the prefect place to watch the shooting stars that were predicted to fall that night. Alyss had told Hadrian of the event and the two had made their plans in secret, not telling Rose or Devin and definitely not telling Emma of it. They’d agreed on simple, false excuses in case anyone had asked what they were doing that evening, and now here they were.

It was the middle of the night and the sky was black. They walked hand in hand to the hill and when they got there Alyss immediately lay on the ground to get a good look at the stars. Despite the lights of the campus nearby, the sky was clear and full of more stars than Alyss had ever seen before. Alyss’s eyes were on the stars but she could feel it when Hadrian lay down next to her, and she turned her face to him. He was laying on his side, an arm beneath his head which was facing hers. She smiled and he lay his other hand on one of hers, resting on her stomach.

“Rose was right,” Alyss said as she turned her face back to the stars. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see that he still faced her. 

“Right about what?” He asked, though he didn’t sound too concerned at all with what Rose had said.

Alyss smiled again and let out a soft laugh. “She said you spend a lot of time looking at me,” She replied, turning her hand over to grasp his. She could hear Hadrian let out a sigh that sounded a bit like a laugh, but she didn’t turn towards him. 

“Is it such a bad thing, that I do that?” He asked and she could hear the lightness in his tone and knew that he was smiling, too. 

“I suppose it’s not a bad thing,” She said, and adjusted herself so that her knees were bent and her feet were flat on the ground. “But right now you should stop,” She added, and pointed up at the sky as the first of the stars started to fall. “You’ll miss the stars.”

Alyss could feel him shift his attention away form her and she watched contentedly as star after star fell from the heavens. it was the better part of an hour that they lay there before the last star fell and the skies went still again. Silence hung between them, soft and comfortable until Hadrian spoke up. 

“Did you wish for anything?” He asked, brushing a hand against her cheek. Alyss sighed and rolled onto her side to face him, mimicking his position.

“I didn’t,” She replied, moving the arm that wasn’t resting under her head so she could hold his hand. He looked confused for a moment before he spoke up again.

“Why not?” He asked. Alyss smiled at him, but didn’t say anything at first. He seemed to be waiting for an answer though.

“I already have what I wished for,” She said softly. Hadrian didn’t seem to understand entirely at first, but the meaning soon dawned on him. He smiled wide and Alyss couldn’t help but think of what a surprisingly gentle, innocent man he was when it came to their relationship.

He moved the hand that was holding hers up to tangle in her hair and gently pulled her face towards his. “I wished for you, too,” He said as he pressed a kiss to her lips.

((dear lord forgive me for taking months to write this))

[miss-rattus]

I let you pick between 6 or 20.

The day had started off simply enough, Alyss was home with Mimi and Aimi was over to visit. Hadrian was set to be home from his mission that evening and they were planning to discuss wedding details. The date of the wedding was set for a few month’s from then and they had a ton to go over. Aurora and Connor were supposed to join them, too, as well as their child, and they’d all have a nice dinner together. The plan was for the kids to play while the adults talked wedding details. Even Kashi and Umino had been planning on dropping by to add in their two cents. Alyss was kept plenty busy that day with all the cleaning and prepping that she needed to do.

Thankfully Aimi was pretty good at taking care of Mimi, and Alyss had left them to play together as she took care of all that she needed to do. Around noon Alyss had left Aimi in complete control of Mimi so she could run errands. She stopped by several places to pick up the sample books for the caterer, the venue, and the dressmaker, as well as picking up groceries for the night’s meal. She’d been gone only two hours or so, and when she came back to the house she’d expected to hear the sounds of Aimi and Mimi playing together, as they could do for hours on end.

However, when she opened the door to step inside, all she heard was dead silence. No sound of feet running across the carpets, no voices, no laughter. Nothing. It set off a warning flag in her mind; even if Mimi had fallen asleep, Aimi would have heard her pull up to the house and come to offer to help with all the items that needed to be taken inside. Humanoid hearing was, after all, a lot better than humans and Hadrian usually knew when she was home before she even pulled into the driveway. The fact that no one was there to greet her at the door, or to make sounds in any other part of the house was suspicious. Alyss slowly walked inside and set down the bag of groceries on the entry hall’s table. Acting as if nothing were amiss, she moved over to a picture frame and pulled it off the wall, revealing a safe behind it. She opened it quickly and drew out one of her many guns and checked the ammo. A full magazine was in place and the safety was turned off.

Alyss held the gun at her side as she moved into the room, hoping that for some reason both Aimi and Mimi had fallen asleep. Her gut, however, was telling her that something was really wrong, and when Alyss walked into the first room off the entry way, she could tell why. Aimi was in a heap on the ground in Alyss’s art room, and when Alyss went over to pick her friend up, there was no response from the Humanoid at all. She was dead weight in Alyss’s arms, her eyes wide open but unlit. “Aimi?” Alyss asked softly, thinking optimistically that this was some sort of joke. When Aimi remained unresponsive, Alyss let her down gently back on the floor and stood.

Alyss always wore her earpiece, always. Even if she wasn’t on a mission, Hadrian normally was and she kept it in as a way to keep in contact in case anything went wrong with his mission. That caution seemed to come in handy now. She pressed down on the piece until it connected her to an Establisher. “This is Agent Alyss Hart,” Alyss started, her voice soft so as not to carry through the house. “Report a possible intruder in our home, contact Agent Hadrian Lockhart.” The voice on the other end repeated her message and Alyss could hear as she picked up another line to contact Hadrian. The agent then connected the two lines so Alyss had a direct line of communication with Hadrian.

“Alyss, what’s going on?” Hadrian asked, his tone carrying his concern. Alyss looked around the rest of the room and found nothing, which worried her more. Where was Mimi? Alyss sighed and pressed down on the ear piece again.

“I’m not sure yet, but Aimi is down. I think she’s been shut off,” Alyss replied, and she could hear a few curses Hadrian let out on the other end of the line. She could also hear him talk to someone else, about rushing back to headquarters due to an emergency at home. While he spoke to whoever was on the mission with him, Alyss moved to the next room. Hadrian’s study was empty, of both people and clues as to what was going on, and she moved on. As she walked through the halls she held her gun up, growing more and more wary with each moment. She turned into the living room, gun held up and ready to shoot, but stopped dead. Mimi was standing in the middle of the room, but she wasn’t alone. A man held a knife to her throat, and her daughter’s eyes were wide with fear. The man smiled when he caught sight of Alyss and pressed the knife harder against Mimi’s skin.

Alyss’s eyes narrowed in rage, and she adjusted the aim of her gun to be level with the man’s face. She wanted to shoot this man badly for even daring to try to hurt her daughter, but she knew there was a chance Mimi would actually get hurt in the process, after all the man’s face was right next to her’s. Even if her aim was great, something could still go wrong, and she didn’t want to kill a man in front of Mimi.

“Don’t make me do this. Not in front of my daughter,” While the words were a plea, Alyss’s voice was as steady as the aim of her gun, held aimed at the face of the intruder in both of her hands. Her mind was a mix of emotions – worry, fear, anger, even guilt – but her face showed none of that, only a dead calm and a fierce stare. She was an expert at hiding her emotions, even better at it than Hadrian was, and he could simply turn off his emotions if he wanted to, literally. The man ignored her and smiled again, wrapping his knifeless hand around Mimi’s waist. Alyss pulled back the hammer on the gun at the motion, a warning and a threat to this invader that she would actually kill him despite Mimi’s presence.

“No need for that, Alyss,” the man said, and she was taken aback. How did he know her name? “I just want a little chat and a few things, nothing serious. No harm need come to little Mimi,” He added, and the mention of Mimi’s nickname almost threw Alyss over the edge. The pieces clicked in her head, though. Just a few weeks ago, a major hack had been reported on the Establishment’s files. No one could tell which files had been hacked into, and since it’d been a few weeks, Alyss had passed it off as being of no concern to her. But now it was. It was the only way this man could have known her name, her address, and the name of her daughter.

“What do you want?” She asked, her voice taking on a colder edge. The man seemed pleased by her response despite the fact that she didn’t lower her weapon.

“I simply want to know how a human managed to create a child with a humanoid that, according to all files, is actually genetically both yours and Hadrian’s child.” He said. The man seemed oddly unconcerned, for having broken into the home of two of the deadliest members of the Establishment. She took a moment to think it over, and assumed it was because this man thought Hadrian was still gone. After all, the break in the files had been a few weeks ago, and since then no new hacks had been detected and a better system had been put up to protect the files. As far as this man knew, Hadrian was still on a mission. That was her only advantage, and she could only hope that her end of the line was still open and sending all vocal feed to Hadrian. If he could pick up on that fact, they’d possibly be able to get Mimi out of this with no injury.

“I assume you know how children are made,” Alyss replied bitterly, hoping the remark would buy some time. The man seemed amused, but she could see his hand flex to press the blade harder against Mimi’s neck. She could also see the small red line that was forming under the blade. Her hand squeezed the handle of the gun and she had to stop herself from pulling the trigger. But it was hard when Mimi called out to her in a voice so terrified. Alyss pressed her lips thin for a moment before speaking again.

“Mimi, darling, it’s okay. Just keep your eyes on me, all right?” She said, and the man laughed. He laughed at the terror of her child, and Alyss’s face finally showed her anger.

“I’m aware of how children are made… between human couples. But Hadrian is not human. His DNA shouldn’t be compatible with yours,” the man started. “It makes me curious. Is Mimi fully human, then? I’d like to find out.” Alyss glared at him, a stare that would make a normal man run with fear. This man, however, seemed deadest on his mission. “So, if you want to keep your darling Mimi safe and unharmed, we’ll just take her in for a few tests, see if we find anything… useful.”

“Useful for what?” Alyss practically spat. She was already tired of this man and his attitude, his threats. But she had to keep Mimi safe and innocent. She didn’t want her daughter to see what Alyss had to do.

“Ah, now, that’s a bit of a confidential issue. But I’m sure you can guess. After all, the Establishment is using Hadrian as a weapon, are they not? But machines are susceptible to bugs, flaws. A human with both mechanical strength and defense with a lack of electrical problems… That would be a great weapon, don’t you think?” He asked, and his smile sickened Alyss. She wanted to smash it off his face, turn his flesh into a pile of mush as she’d done only once before in her life.

“My daughter will be no such weapon,” She replied, and adjusted her grip on the gun. She was trying to prepare herself to shoot the man, trying to tell herself that the psychological damage such a thing could do to Mimi was a hell of a lot better than letting this man hurt her. But before she could squeeze down on the trigger, a red dot appeared on the side of the man’s head. She knew immediately that it was Hadrian, right outside the window, but she didn’t dare to look his way. The laser aim, which he never normally used, was his way of letting Alyss know that he was there, quicker than she could have hoped for, and ready to take care of the threat.

“I’m afraid there’s not much of a choice, Alyss. Either we take her or we kill her, it’s up to you,” The man replied, and she was sure Hadrian could hear the threat over the ear piece. Why he was waiting so long was a mystery to her, but Alyss was ready for it.

“Mimi,” she started, ignoring the man’s statement completely. She didn’t look at her daughter, but kept eye contact with the man. “Mimi, keep your eyes on me, okay? Are you doing that?” She asked, and Mimi replied with a feeble “yes.”

As soon as that yes sounded, though, as faint as it was, the glass shattered and the man fell sideways. He’d been taken off guard and the knife slipped from his hand, leaving only a scratch on Mimi’s throat. The sound scared Mimi and as soon as she was free of the man’s grasp she ran towards her mom. Alyss dropped her gun and fell to her knees, wrapping her arms tight around her daughter, smoothing back her hair and whispering comforting words to Mimi as she cried. Hadrian came through the busted window and made his way towards them, but before he could say anything Alyss pulled back a bit from Mimi.

“Aimi, make sure she’s okay. I don’t know how to help her,” She said and Hadrian nodded, going to take care of his sister. Alyss picked up Mimi, still crying, and carried her out and into the art room. They walked into the room in time to see Hadrian reactivate Aimi, who burst back into consciousness with worry. As soon as she caught sight of the others in the room, she relax and Alyss gave her the details of what happened, and her plan on what their next move was.

By the time Aurora and Connor had arrived, Establishment members had come and gone, removing the body and cleaning up the living room. A patchy repair job had been done on the window, but that didn’t matter to Alyss, who already had boxes out that she was filling with all their possessions.

[catching-those-stars]

Angst AU p.3 - Closure.

It was a system wide shut down, no dreams, no self control, just stillness. Hadrian didn’t realize it had gotten that bad until he was turned back on. The bright lights of lamp that was hanging over the table he was lying on blinded him, making him look away. He honestly didn’t know where he was, or what was going on at first so he just laid there, letting his eyes drift from object to object. Slowly letting the system catch up with it’s self, which was mostly a mistake because the events of the night before came rushing back. All the pain, the betrayal, the blood, everything. In a panic he shot up, trying to get off the table before a hand stopped him, pushing him back down. “Don’t move. I haven’t finished repairing the main nerve base.” Umino leaned over him for a moment and pulled a wire out of his chest, Hadrian winced. “Good, that’s what I wanted to see. Now then, do us all a favor and don’t try so hard to die. Kashi and I didn’t build you just to have you show up mangled and nearly dead.” His chest plate was closed but once that happened, the wounds started to bleed again, but Hadrian didn’t feel anything.

“It doesn’t hurt.” He remarked as he watched Kashi thread a need to stitch it up. Both of them glanced at each other, their expressions were mixed. It was Kashi who spoke next, her tone was gentle, trying hard to be soothing. “You’re in shock still. Do you remember anything that happened?”

Hadrian looked away, studying the other Machines around the lab. “Everything.” That was all he gave them. If he was here that meant Aimi or Connor had come after the distress call, and he knew that it wasn’t just a distress signal they had gotten. A quick flip through the data showed that he had given out a death signal. A final notice that was built into them in case they died, just to let the others know. He had honestly died there, killed by Alyss’s hand. Hadrian gritted his teeth and just ignored any other questions. Both Kashi and Umino finally got the hint and worked in silence. -- Hadrian would recover, but he all the bandages that were wrapped around him severed as a reminder of what happened. The moment he set foot in HQ the whole lobby went silent, and hushed whispers soon followed. Nobody knew what was going on, not even him, so he just stared straight ahead, his expression as hard as it could get. Everyone cleared out of his path that day. All he really knew was that Alyss had not returned, and the higher-ups were tight-lipped about details. He was here to give them the details, his side of what happened, and after that he was free to roam around clinic and speculate on why. Rumors Had sprung up of course, and he heard them all. Some said Alyss had tried to kill him, then herself to get out of Contracts binding them, others were more obscure. Still, her words played over in his mind, the scene came to life whenever he closed his eyes. Twice he had been woken up by nightmares, both times he could feel the tears on his face. The nurses said nothing every time, only offered him water.

Aimi made sure to visit though, attempting to help him get through it. “I’m sure she had a plan, I mean I find it hard to believe that she would have done such a thing without at least having something up her sleeve.” her words were soft, and they held logic but logic isn’t what he was wanting to hear. Hadrian was all wrapped up in emotions, and the frown he gave her made her stop for a second giving him the time to cut in. “Aimi, I know what you’re trying to do, but could you give it a rest?” He asked softly. “I don’t want to hear about plans, or rumors, or her, or me. I just want to be left alone for now. I’ve already cast my judgments based on what I went through. I went over every little piece of data, and came up empty handed. I don’t feel a thing right now, so please just let the topic go.” Had he really cast his judgments? No, but it got Aimi off the topic, and onto something about Connor did last week, and he just listened, tossing his two cents in where ever he needed to.

It wasn’t until a few days later that someone came in to give him some details. Apparently they had located Alyss a day ago, and not all was well. The man said that something in her had snapped, but didn’t expand on the statement. He only went on to explain that Alyss was requesting to see him, and wanted to know if Hadrian wanted to see her as well. He said yes without even thinking, giving himself no time to back out. Seeing her would be like ripping off a band-aid, he had to do it. He needed to know why, for his own sake. He walked there himself, but got stopped at the door, a young man around his age looked nervous about letting him in. “I have to warn you, she’s not okay.” He said carefully. Hadrian stared at him for a second, and placed his hand on the door. “Yeah? Neither am I.” Whatever the man had planned on saying died right there on his lips, and he let Hadrian in.

The room was stark white, plain and blinding all the same time. “Hadrian.” The voice made him jump, and stopped in the doorway, watching her. He could see and hear the tears in her eyes, but it did nothing to quell the fury he felt upon seeing her. However, he masked it, taking a seat across from her, folding his hands on the table. Silence reigned between them, and Hadrian wasn’t going to say a word. “What have I done?” Hadrian blinked then gritted his teeth at the question. What had she NOT done? He felt rage creep through him, but the hurt from that night took it’s place faster than the rage did, and he remained silent. “Hadrian?” Alyss sounded lost, confused by his refusal to even say a word, so he decided to at least ask something, to finally get the answer to all his questions.

“Why?” The hurt he was feeling crept into the question, and the tightness in his throat returned with a vengeance but Hadrian fought it back. Resolute in not crying. Alyss on the other hand was not holding back the tears, but Hadrian didn’t move an inch, just unfolded his fingers. He hated to see her cry, but right now that was all he wanted, he wanted to see remorse, anything to combat the images of her blank cold expression that plagued him. “I did what I had to.” That was her answer, and it was not the one he was looking for. It wasn’t even a reason! Hadrian didn’t know what kind of answer he wanted, but that certainly didn’t cut it and he let it show for a moment. His hands curled into fists as he fought down the urge to shout at her, to make her give him something other than that.

Instead he evened his anger out, making sure to sound as cold as he felt. “I almost died, Alyss. Actually died. If it weren’t for Aimi and Connor I would have.” He was looking her dead in the eyes now, not letting his gaze slip. “You left me there Alyss. You could have done this differently. My siblings are the only reason I’m alive, no thanks to you or the Establishment”

Now that got a reaction, and Alyss stood up so fast it knocked the chair over. She was shouting at him, telling him that the only reason that Aimi and Connor were there was because she had set it up. That she had everything planned out, but she still wasn’t helping her case and he was about return the shouting when the other men closed in, forcing her to sit down.  The two of them went back and forth about why she had to stay calm and Hadrian finally understood what the man meant when he said she had snapped. The pictures that got slapped onto the table laid the story out for him. Hadrian studied them carefully, half listening to Alyss deny ever doing such a thing, but she was in half the pictures, her expression in each one full of pain, rage, and guilt. Everything he was seeing explained a lot, he knew why now but what he didn’t understand is why she didn’t say anything. Instead she let him fret, let him think that she didn’t care, and most of all, let him nearly die. And for what?

Alyss reacted to the images horribly, shoving them off the table and lashing out. The agents in the room, closed in but Hadrian stood up, getting in between the man restraining her and took over him, holding her arms to sides, letting her thrash about all she pleased. He doubted she even realized it was him and she eventually went still, and sagged against him. Carefully he lowered her to the floor as she started to recall everything. “I did that.” Her voice sounded weak, and Hadrian settled down behind her, watching her but then movement brought his attention back to the other men. One man had a needle in his hand, Hadrian stared at him dumbfounded that they even thought that measure was necessary. He quickly pointed to the door.

“Leave, all of you. I don’t need your help.” He stated firmly, all of them hesitated. “You don’t need to protect me from her. She can’t hurt me, she’s harmless right now.” Again they paused before clearing out, and silence fell across the room again. Even from behind he could see the tears racing down her cheeks, but she didn’t turn around. “Face me Alyss.” The command was a lot harsher than he intended, but it worked and she slowly faced him, but quickly lowered her eyes. “Why didn’t you just tell me? All of this could have been avoided, all this pain. Alyss, do you know what it felt like to hear you walk away like that, to know that I was dying right there, and still have you walk away.” Now he let the tears come, but he kept his voice steady. “I have never felt so…., destroyed.” She cringed at the word. “If you had just said something about this plan you had, I could have easily played along, why didn’t you?”

Alyss fidgeted a little, twisting her skirt up in her hands. “I needed it to seem real, I didn’t want to risk messing it up…” The answer was almost so soft that he couldn’t hear it, and the tears in her eyes started to fall again. “I, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean what I said about feeling nothing, but I had too..,” She was fighting to get the rest out, so he waited. “To make it seem real.”

There, that was what he was looking for, but still it didn’t make things okay yet. “A little too real.” He shot back, before sighing, finally unfolding his arms. “I was knocking on deaths door, and he answered.” Alyss’s head shot up, her expression was a mix of things. “If my systems have a say, I actually died…,” Hadrian huffed a little, and took her hand, pulling her towards him. At first she didn’t move, resisting him but he tugged again and this time she let him pull her towards him so that now they were face to face; inches apart. “Look, there’s a line we need to draw right now. We’re spies, yes. We work for a company that doesn’t give a shit about our lives, but right now, right here; I’m drawing the line.” Hadrian took her chin and made sure she was looking him in the eyes. “Don’t you ever, EVER do that to me again; and I will never do it to you. If you have a plan, tell me. Tell me everything. We suffer enough, lets not make each other suffer by our own hands okay. You and me, we come first.” Alyss nodded. He could hear her trying to say something but he stopped her. “I’m not done. I have one other question.” She blinked at him, causing tears to rush down her face again. “Are you sorry?”

The question barely got of his mouth before she clutched at the hand that had her chin, the grip was desperate. “Yes! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean t-” Her apology was cut off as he pulled her into a hug, and she went limp at first not sure how to react but she slowly returned the hug. Clinging to him, burying her face into his shoulder, just below his neck. In front of him the pictures where spread out, proof of her grief but he wanted to hear her say it. “I love you Alyss, but I’m still a little mad at you. It‘ll pass, and we‘re going to be okay. This place can‘t ruin us.” It was true. Hadrian was still upset but it hard to remain that way while she was sobbing into his shoulder, painfully clutching at wound that hadn’t quite healed yet. Their relationship however, was healing faster than the bullet holes.

[catching-those-stars]

Angst AU p.2 -- Alyss’s POV

“I don’t feel a thing for you.” Her voice was level, cool, but so very strained. She hated herself with each word she said, and absolutely loathed herself when she squeezed the trigger. She unloaded the magazine into Hadrian’s chest, hoping it would cover up the fact that she’d aimed a bit too high, hopefully missing his major systems. It was her only comfort, that she was purposefully hitting off her target. She could only pray that Aimi and Connor were waiting in the other building for his signal, which would inevitably go off. She’d called them earlier, told them the situation, that there was a chance that this would all happen and she could only thank the divine universe that they’d been so okay with it all and agreed to be waiting nearby. They’d even agreed to take on the risk of offing a few of the people working under Nightingale if they got the chance, which would be a huge help to her. The less people she had to kill herself, the less risk she’d be facing.

The job was done and she walked away, led by the hand on her shoulder that belonged to the Nightingale. The man responsible for all of this. She tried to block out the sound of Hadrian’s pleas but it was difficult to do, and each word from him was another knife in her heart. If she made it out of this alive, she was sure it’d be without an actual heart.

The men walked to a room deep in the heart of the warehouse, and it was there that Alyss was sat across from the Nightingale. She was sure this was the part where he threatened her life, but what he didn’t know was that her own life didn’t matter to her at all right then. She’d easily gamble with it if it meant keeping the Nightingale away from where Hadrian’s body was long enough for Aimi and Connor to get to him. She kept a straight face, looking to actually be the part of the stone-cold killer she was playing. Her eyes were dark and level and stared straight at the man she despised more than she hated even herself.

“That seemed easier for you than it should have been,” The Nightingale started, and Alyss could feel the suspicion he felt towards her. She had to think fast, and thankfully she had the perfect excuse ready at the tip of her tongue.

“It’s been a long time coming. He betrayed me, and I never forgot about that,” She said, making sure to place her hand over her stomach where her scars were. She could use them to her advantage here and she would, despite the fact that none of them were Hadrian’s fault. Hell, if he hadn’t been around they’d have ended up worse, she might have even been killed. But she’d do what she had to. She’d do anything now. “I almost died because of him, and I’ve waited every day since then for a chance to do the same,” She made sure to sound full of rage, completely and utterly like a crazy lady who holds a grudge. And to be honest, she was a crazy woman who holds a grudge and they were all so blissfully ignorant of that.  The Nightingale made a motion and two men took her arms. He pushed away her hand and pushed up her shirt, exposing the thick scars that lingered there. What he saw seemed to please him and he motioned for the men to release her. For now she seemed to be safe and she allowed herself to relax for just a moment, but the banging of a door did nothing to calm her nerves.

“The body is gone,” Steve exclaimed, bursting into the room where Alyss, the Nightingale, and two guards stood. Everyone stood and turned to him and there where whispers of confusion that were cut short by a signal from the Nightingale.

“Gone?” He asked, and stared Steve straight in the eye as he explained.

“Yeah, I went to check, to make sure it was really dead and… And there were two people pulling him away. I tried to shoot, I swear, but they must have been like it! They were unfazed, and… and five others are dead. They… whatever they are, they must have killed them to take that thing away.” Alyss hated the teen with every word he said, and when he referred to Hadrian as an “it” and a “thing” she had to restrain herself from shooting him then and there. The Nightingale turned to her then, and she already knew the question he was going to ask.

“Are there anymore machines like him?” He asked, and this time it was her turn to stare him straight in the eyes. She hid her contempt well, and instead made her anger seem directed towards Hadrian.

“He never told me there were others,” She started, practically spitting the words as if the mere memory of Hadrian made her sick. “I always figured that there were more, but I never knew they were so close. Anytime I asked, he acted as if I was crazy for suggestion that he wasn’t the only machine of his kind.” It hurt to talk badly of him, to make up lies as she was, but she was doing what she had to do, and she kept reminding herself. “It’s possible that the damage done to his systems set off a signal that got past even your hacks, and the others like him came to help. I doubt there’s much they can do, though. He bled out too much, and on top of that I hit all the inner mechanisms. He’s destroyed.” She added, secretly praying that what she’d said wasn’t true.

The Nightingale was silent, and for a moment Alyss thought it was her turn to be shot dead, but he smiled after a while and clapped her on the shoulder. “You’ll be one of the greatest additions we’ve had in a while,” He assured her, and from the looks on the faces around her, she could be sure that such high praise didn’t come easily. She simply nodded in acceptance and listened as plans were made. Plans that now involved her.

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬___________________________________________

A few days had passed since Alyss had shot Hadrian and been accepted into the Nightingale’s circle of criminals. They’d been the longest days of her life, but she told herself that she only had to hold on a little bit longer. She was ending it all tonight, whether with her death or the death of the Nightingale.

The night she’d shot Hadrian, Aimi and Connor took out five of the guards and they’d yet to be replaced. She was sure that the Nightingale thought she was one of the replacements, but he was dead wrong. That only left Steve and three others, and then the Nightingale himself. She was standing on the balcony trying to think over the best plan to get to the Nightingale to kill him when she heard someone approach her from behind. She stayed still and waited until the person spoke to turn towards them.

“Hey, Alyss,” It was Steve, and she smiled. He’d been trying to get her into bed since the night she’d shot Hadrian, and she was thinking now that she just might let him get close to his goal, if only to further her own. Her plan was forming in her head with each step Steve took towards her. She nodded when he stood next to her, and he took that as a sign to continue. “You like being outside in the rain?” He asked, holding out a hand to catch the water.

Alyss allowed herself to laugh and tiled her head back. “Not particularly,” she started, and pointed up to the sky. “But the moon looks beautiful behind rainclouds.” She said, and Steve followed her finger to where the moon sat, hanging full and low in the sky. It wasn’t a lie, the moon looks gorgeous and mysterious on that dark night. He nodded and hummed something noncommittal, and Alyss turned to lean against the balcony railing.

“I could use a drink,” She started, knowing the teen smuggled alcohol into his room all the time. “What do you say?” She asked, raising and eyebrow and leaning back a bit too much, drawing attention to her chest. It worked wonders on the teen and he nodded and motioned to go back inside.

“I have some stuff in my room, we could see if there’s anything you’d like,” He suggested, all too eager to get her to his room. She nodded and followed him, walking with her familiar, confident, hip swaying walk. He was all too enthralled with her to notice the edge she had, sharp and dangerous and aimed straight at him. Alyss couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the kid and how absolutely dumb he was. He pulled out all the alcohol he had onto his desk and rifled through each one, offering it all to her as if she were a goddess he was trying too hard to please. She finally accepted a shot of vodka, and downed it in an instant. The warmth soothed her and her nerved as well as the part of her brain that was trying to inform her of everything that could go wrong with this plan.

Alyss walked slowly to the edge of Steve’s bed, trailing her fingers along the sheets. One side of the bed was a mess, but the other was relatively smooth. “Doesn’t see much use, does it?” She asked and she could see him gulp as if he knew where this was going. She motioned him over and he followed like a stupid puppy, trying to place his hands on her waist as if he wanted to kiss her. She was sure he wanted to, but he’d never get that chance. She turned away from his hands and held up her own. “We do this my way,” She cooed, and he stood with wide eyes at the side of the bed. It was nothing to place her hand on his chest and push him back, he was putty in her hands.

With a coy smile she shrugged off her jacket and he watched her with bated break. The jacket was the only thing that came off and he seemed a bit disappointed as she moved to hover over him on all fours. He was trapped under her but he didn’t know it. He was one of those guys who believed he was in complete control when he had a girl in the bedroom.

How terribly wrong he was about that.

Still smiling that coy smile of a woman about to exact revenge she let one hand trail down his side until it reached his pocket where he kept his knife. The idiot didn’t have a holster for it, and it was just an accident waiting to be happen. She pulled it out and he looked at her curiously.

“We don’t want any accidents, do we?” She asked and he nodded. He placed his hands on her waist and this time she let him, and stared him dead in the eyes as his hands started to roam. They didn’t go far; one hand pushed up her shirt and the other ran over her scars. His touch was as gentle as if he were actually her lover, and they lingered on the scars as if he wished her could erase them from her skin.

“I can’t believe it’d let anyone touch someone like you,” He said, and that seemed to do it. She was sickened by him and it must have showed in her face. No one touched her like that except Hadrian, and this boy would pay for the part he played in what she’d assumed was Hadrian’s death. Steve tried to push himself up, obviously unnerved by the change in her expression but she gave him no time to do so. A hand pushed him down to the bed and held him there, the other grabbed the knife and pulled it across his throat. The skin split easily and the blood sprayed onto her skin, sticky and hot. She sat back, her legs still straddling his and watched as the life drained from him. The look of disappointment and betrayal, the guttural sounds that came as he tried to speak pleased her to no end and when she smiled, it was a cruel grin made more sinister by the blood that’d splattered onto her face.

She said nothing to the dying boy as she got up and rifled through his things. She was still unarmed in the warehouse, under a sort of trial period, but Steve had enough guns, ammo, and knives to finish the job. She took her pick, shoving several knives into her belt and taking two guns with her. She left behind her jacket and exited the room. She only had three men to take out before she could get to the Nightingale. Two were patrols, one was a door guard. With silent and deadly focus she walked down the halls until she came upon the two patrols. She gave them no time to say anything as she drew her guns and shot. They didn’t even have the time to lift their own guns before bullets entered their brains and they fell to the floor. She smiled, knowing she could use the noise of the gunshot to her advantage.

Alyss took off running down the halls to the room where the Nightingale always stayed, and made sure to look as out of breath and frantic as she could. None of the guards wore armor, which was stupid of them. They believed that they were safe where they were, far away from the warehouse, that they had the advantage! She could have laughed at their idiocy but instead she forced a pained expression and held onto her side.

“Steve,” She panted to the guard at the door. “He… He just went crazy, started screaming about who knows what and… he tried to attack me,” She said, motioning to her face. She’d smeared the blood on it until she’d been sure she could pass it off as a head wound that she’d tried to take care of, and the guard bought it. “He knocked me down and then went for the other two… I think… I think he killed them,” She said and took a deep breath. With each word she’d tried to sound more panicked, as if just the thought of Steve running lose and killing people was making her anxious. “I don’t know where he went, or what he’s trying to do I just… I just know that… That…” She stuttered over the words and stumbled forward.

The guard tried to catch her and as he reached out for her she grabbed a knife and plunged it straight into his stomach. She pulled the knife out and stood for a second staring at the blood as the guard bent over, clutching his stomach. It felt like forever that she sat there watching a single drop fall from the blade, but the motion of the guard trying to grab his gun brought her back to the moment and she pulled him by the hair to expose his neck, slashing it as easily as she had Steve’s.

Four down, only one more to go. Alyss stood for another moment at the door, her heart pounding. This was it. At this point her two options were kill or be killed, and she wanted her revenge. She kicked in the door and pulled up a gun. The scene came to her immediately. The Nightingale was at his desk, seemingly unconcerned with the shots that had sounded in the hall only moments earlier. But he’d looked up when the door busted in and was reaching for a gun now. Another shot fired and the Nightingale pulled back his hand with a scream.

Alyss’s bullet had pierced his hand as he’d reached for the gun and she wasted no time in shooting a hole through his other hand. He cursed and held both his hands to his chest, glaring at Alyss as he did so. She lowered her gun and for a moment they stood glaring at each other before the Nightingale finally spoke.

“You think you’re going to kill me?” He asked, and Alyss smiled a bright, crazy smile.

“I don’t think I’m going to do anything. I know I’m going to kill you, and I will enjoy every second of it,” She promised. The Nightingale scowled and tried to look behind her out the door, but she kicked it shut. “No one left here but you and me,” She told him and raised her gun again when he made a move to try to grab his. It would have failed miserably, he could barely flex his fingers after all, but she wouldn’t take chances. He stopped when her gun was level with him and held his hands up. They were bleeding terribly and Alyss could see straight through where she’d shot him. The Nightingale walked towards her, hands still held up, and smile at her.

“You would have made a wonderful addition,” He said with a note of regret. It pissed her off, the way he was talking to her like she was a child playing with things she didn’t understand. She understood all that she needed to, and she understood that she hate this man more than anything in the world. She raised her gun again, but this time aimed lower, shooting out the Nightingale’s kneecap. He was down and that was all the advantage that Alyss needed over him. She holstered the gun she’d stolen and took the time to toss the Nightingale’s gun out the window, just to be safe. She walked back over to the man and looked down at him. He was pathetic, really, and she wondered why it’d taken so many teams to try to defeat him. It’d been so, so easy. Had they all been stupidly inadequate teams, or were she and Hadrian really the best of them all? The thought of Hadrian hurt and she took it out on the Nightingale with one well aimed kick to the head. She knew it hurt, after all she always wore steel-toed boots, but the man tried to hide the pain.

“You would kick a man while he’s down? You’re an honor-less woman, aren’t you?” He said in a weak attempt to beg for his life. Alyss paused and tilted her head to one side. She was still smiling like an insane woman, and she supposed she was a bit insane.

“You killed my honor,” She told him and kicked him in the throat this time. She could hear him choking as he tried to breath and it was one of the best feelings, to hear his pain. She walked to the desk and retrieved a letter opener which she tested to make sure it was nice and sharp. Satisfied by the edges on it, Alyss moved to stand over the Nightingale, and then sat on his chest. She twirled the blade in her fingers, resting her head in one hand while she decided where to start.

“I suppose this is your revenge, then? Killing me won’t bring him back,” He said, and that pushed Alyss over the edge. In the two days she’d been stuck there she’d heard nothing from the Establishment nor Hadrian’s siblings, and the fear that he was actually dead was consuming. The Nightingale’s words only made it worse. But if he thought that taunting her would set him free, he was wrong. She leaned forward, resting her weight on one hand by his head and ran the blade down the side of his face.

“Killing you may not bring him back, but it’ll certainly feel wonderful,” She spat at him and sat back on her feels. She’d decided on her plan, and she raised up the letter opener’s thin blade, holding it up right above his eye. She plunged it in, making sure not to push deep enough to hit the brain, and his scream was sweet music to her. She pulled the blade back, tilting it a bit so that the eye came with it. She held the punctured eye in front of the eye that remained in the Nightingale’s head before tossing it aside and repeating the motion. His screams grew louder but Alyss didn’t care. The damned man was blind and disabled now, yet still not dead.

She stood and tossed the letter opener to the side, as well as the eye that was still pierced on the blade. She wanted this man to suffer as much pain as she could inflict before he died. With a grunt she moved and pulled up his arm. Using her leg as leverage, she twisted it as hard as she could until she heard the shoulder pop, dislocating and twisting at a sickening angle. Another scream, this one weaker than the others, and it only fueled Alyss to go on. She moved to the other arm, this time placing her shoe on his side and pulling until the arm dislocated straight from the socket. It was gross to look at, even under the man’s shirt, and she took her knife to start sawing away at the tendons that still tried to hold the arm to the shoulder. Blood sprayed everywhere and his screams grew loud again.

It took a while of hacking and sawing before the arm was completely separated from the body, and when it was Alyss kicked the arm away. She would have thought the man would be dead by now but he was still whimpering in pain.

“All this for a machine?” The Nightingale’s voice was weak but he was still trying to push her, and it worked. She kneeled down over him again and took his face in her hand, forcing his face up a bit. He couldn’t see her, but she saw all she needed to.

“You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” She snarled, and forced open his mouth with one hand. She reached in and took his tongue in her hand and maneuvered one of her blade into his mouth as well. She cut out his tongue and tossed it aside, wiping off the slime of his saliva mixed with blood on his shirt. She stood for a moment, watching the man bleed out in several places. He should be dead by now, she thought, he’d lost way too much blood. He was still holding on, just barely, but how?

“Agent Hart…” The voice cut in through the status of her ear piece, and she stopped dead. She raised a hand to the piece and pressed it in, hoping that the line would stay open.

“I need a status report on Agent Hadrian Lockhart,” She spoke quickly and clearly, and waited with bated breath to hear a response. When it came it was interrupted with static and barely audible, but she caught a few words.

“Agent... Lockhart. Condition… -fatal… Unknown…” The words hit her like a ton of bricks. Fatal? Unknown? Were they trying to be kind to her, tell her in the nicest way possible that he was dead? If so, they’d done nothing more but add another knife to her heart. With a scream she ripped out her ear piece and aimed a kick at the Nightingale’s head. And then another, and another. That didn’t satisfy her though, and she turned to stomping on the man’s face, crushing it in with each blow of her boots. His body had stopped moving and she was sure he was dead, but once she’d started smashing his face in, she couldn’t stop. She stomped again and again and again, screaming all the while, until the Nightingale’s face was nothing more than a mess of bone shards, brain tissue, flesh, and blood.

When the Establishment came in to retrieve her, she was sitting next to the mess of the body, crying and laughing hysterically. One agent, a friend of Alyss’s, tried to pick her up off the floor but received a knife in her leg. It took several more agents to restrain Alyss, who tried to fight them all, and finally they had to sedate her. She felt the prick of a needle and the world went black before her.

¬______________________________________________

“Hadrian.” Her voice shook when she said his name and tears filled her eyes at the mere sight of him in the doorway. She was so, so glad that he was alive, that Aimi and Connor had made it in time to him and taken him back here. She’d woken up in the hospital of the Establishment just a few hours ago, confused and dazed. The nurse that had been in her room had answered questions for her, the first one being the status of Hadrian. The nurse informed her that he’d left the hospital wing the day before, and that he’d make a full recovery with time. The relief had been immense and she demanded that she be taken to see him. After a while, the Establishment had given in to her demands and taken her to a room with a table. Two Establishers were in the room with her, and one held the case file. She didn’t care about the case file, she’d just been glad to know that they were bringing Hadrian, and when the door had opened and he’d stepped in she could have really cried.

One of the Establishment members led him to the table and sat him across from her, and she wanted so badly to reach out for his hand. But after what she’d done? She was sure he hated her, that there was no way they were coming back from that. “What have I done?” She asked, never breaking eye contact with him. His jaw clenched but he said nothing, and she could see that bridge burning right before her eyes. “Hadrian?” She asked again, this time losing control of her voice. It broke and it was weak, she sounded like a lost child.

“Why?” He finally asked, and the hurt in his voice killed her more than shooting him had. She looked down for a moment, trying futilely to blink away tears that were falling quicker than she could stop them.

“I did what I had to,” She said softly and looked back up to him. Her words seemed to anger him and his hands clenched to fists.

“What you had to do?” He asked, voice harsh and cold. “I almost died, Alyss. Actually died. If it weren’t for Aimi and Connor I would have. You left me there Alyss. You could have done this differently. My siblings are the only reason I’m alive, no thanks to you or the Establishment” His words accused her of betrayal, and while she couldn’t blame him for it, it still angered her. She stood suddenly and her voice rose in pitch.

“Aimi and Connor were only there because I called them! I told them what could happen, and told them where to be, where to take you! They wouldn’t have gotten to you in time if it wasn’t for me!” She was practically screaming, she was so taken aback by Hadrian’s words. An Estabishment member grabbed her by her arms then, and another reached around to take her gun. Her sudden outburst had concerned them, but she had no clue why and she tried to twist away from them. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” She asked, and one of the Establishment members actually shoved her back down into her chair.

“Agent Hart, we need you to stay seated. Another move like that and you’ll be restrained,” The agent warned, and Alyss was absolutely appalled.

“Restrained? Are you fucking kidding?” She snapped and was about to stand again. The warning look she got from the agent kept her from doing so. He was dead serious, and she didn’t understand at all.

“We are still unsure of your state of being and have been instructed to restrain you at any sign of violence.” He answered simply, but the answer only confused her more.

“What the hell are you talking about?” She demanded to know, and the agent who had taken her gun slapped a picture down in front of her, right between her and Hadrian. It was gruesome, and despite all the death she’d seen, she almost couldn’t stomach the images in the picture in front of her.

“This is the Nightingale. Or what’s left of him,” The agent said and Alyss just looked up to him.

“What did you do to him, for fuck’s sake?” She asked, chilled to the bone with what she assumed was the gruesomeness of the Establishment. “All you had to do was shoot the bastard.” She added. She looked at the picture again with confusion. This didn’t add up with what the nurse had told her. When she’d asked what had gone on, the nurse had informed her that the Nightingale was dead, as well as four others. All shot to death. So why was she looking at this partially dismembered man?  

The agent looked at her for a long moment before speaking again, and what he said shocked her more than anything. “You did that, Alyss.” His tone was softer than it’d been before, as if he was breaking terrible news to a young child. Alyss shook her head as he spoke, trying to deny what he was saying.

“I couldn’t have done that,” She said slowly, adamantly. She was sure she didn’t. After all, all she could remember was getting in with Nightingale. Hadn’t they pulled her out of the warehouse as soon as they’d gotten a good shot on him? She could have sworn that’s how the mission had ended.

“You did, Alyss. You killed him and the four others in the building,” The agent told her, and slid another picture over to her. It was another shot from the Establishment cameras and it showed her kneeling over the Nightingale, presumably still alive. A knife was in one hand and in the other…

“No,” She whispered, and then again, louder. “No! I didn’t! I… I couldn’t have!” She cried out, shoving the pictures away from her and standing abruptly. The first agent grabbed her arm, ready to restrain her if need be. She repeated the words several times, shaking her head vigorously as the agent tried to explain to her exactly how she’d killed the Nightingale, how they’d found her laughing hysterically next to his body. She wanted to scream at him to shut up, to stop all this because she absolutely would not have killed him that way. It just wasn’t in her to do that, no matter how much she hated him. She would have shot him and been done with it.

“Shut up!” She screamed and lurched forward to knock the case folder out of his hand. The agent holder her arm grabbed both, and then when she still tried to move forward, grabbed her by the waist and pinned her arms down as he did so. She screamed and kicked for a moment, accusing the agent with the case file of lying, of submitting false pictures to the case file before she finally went still.

“Oh,” She said so softly she barely heard herself. Her eyes went wide and it seemed to all come back to her, Steve’s death, the way he’d touched her scars and set her off, how she killed the three guards, and finally the dismemberment of the Nightingale. “I… I did that…” She said and went limp in the agent’s arms. He let go of her and she fell to her knees, staring blankly at the table legs in front of her. “Oh god, I did that.”