D-0

This is how it always began...

Every single time...

Nothing ever changed...

There he stood, the crownless king, watching his entire realm slowly reduce to ash and cinders. Eyes devoid of emotion stared out at voracious flames chewing at almost every inch of the city, except the sky scraper summits and other high-rise structures. Feet planted on the edge of a flat rooftop high above, he pulled the tainted, smoke-filled air into his lungs, savoring it. Particles of ignited debris flitted like suspended snow before they turned gray and crumbled to elusive dust. The view of the scorching city stretched on for miles upon miles into the distance below, sprawling like a cancer, as far as the eye could reach. The river glittered, sparkling in shades of brilliant ruby as though it ran with blood and the heavens wore bruises in warm hues of orange, pale yellow and spatters of red. There was no sign of a sun in this toxic atmosphere, but the face of the sickly yellow moon peered ominously behind noxious clouds streaked with garnet lightning. A gust of wind swept through red hair and golden-green eyes glowed with the fire's radiant reflection. Within him welled a deep sensation of dread; dread born from the knowledge that everyone he'd loved was gone...No one was left... at his own funeral pyre, he stood alone. That wasn't entirely true.

A sound was heard over the ravaging inferno below, cutting through the diaphanous veils of smoke and ash like a blade. It was an all too familiar voice, and it was crying out his name in a summons of despair. "AAAACCCEEEEE!" That voice.... That name... The name that he had earned with baptisms of blood. A name he hadn't been given at birth, or chosen himself; a call-sign... A title among monsters. Head turned as cold, summer-meadow eyes drifted over his shoulder, catching sight of two small hands that clawed for dear life onto the opposite edge of that rooftop. That voice... It was Chad's! His whole body turned on a dime in one fluid motion before it thrust itself into a sprint to reach the other edge. It was a race against time, though he knew precisely in his mind each and every single step he would take. There was no winning or losing... there was only the inevitable....like drowning once you've ceased the struggle. Ace slid to his knees just as those small fingers couldn't sustain their grip any longer. Golden-green eyes locked with exotic lavender hues so huge and gushing with notions of terror that it jolted his senses like a shockwave of electric fear. Metal collided with concrete behind him.
It happened every time.
Just like this....
Make a choice Ace... Save the kid, or save yourself. For an instant, he actually watched the boy fall, strained digits clawing upward for some invisible rope that he could possibly cling to.

No, he wouldn't let him go like this. Instinct and reflex moved him just in time to reach down and coil a firm grip around one of Chad's dainty wrists. Eyes remained locked watching the small male hang suspended over an infernal ocean of flame. Snowflakes of ash settled in locks of pale hair. 'I've got you...' he thought to himself. 'I said I always would.' Muscles tensed to begin pulling the horrified youth upward. Since an early age, Ace was conditioned to be a killer of men. Now, all he wanted to do was save just one. A discord of voices ensued at his back, but he couldn't discern to whom they belonged. Maybe if he hurried, he would make it... maybe he could somehow beat fate at its own game this time... Veins of ruby lightning saturated the sickly sky above before thunder melded seamlessly with the sound of a fired bullet. Summer-meadow hues so piercing with determination fluttered wide open as the projectile tore through flesh and cloth, clean to the other side. Lips parted with the ghost of an inaudible groan, echoed by the boy's harrowing wail. He slumped forward, supporting his weight on the other arm. Droplets of crimson projected outward, dappling the youthful face below . Blood began welling from the exit wound beneath his left collarbone and soon trailed in rivers along the appendage that kept the boy from plummeting to his death. White cotton textiles rapidly stained with garnet.

The pain was unimaginable, yet his grip tightened around the small wrist to counter the viscous red gore. Gritting through the physical agony with a bestial growl, Ace made a second attempt to lift the suspended youth to safety. All efforts were futile, and despite this awareness, he continued fighting. Two additional shots were fired by the unseen enemy, tearing through his back and into his chest cavity. He tasted copper. This was it... the point of no return. Muscles trembled, struggling to obey his desperate command to keep a grip around Chad's thin wrist. Ace refused to let go. He refused to spend the final seconds of his life watching as Chad fell to his death to be consumed by the blazing sea. No, he would hold on, at all cost. All energy was quickly fleeting, every breath of toxic air an agonizing strain. He could use that last remnant of residual strength to turn his head and see the face of his assailant...
But it truly would make no difference...
It would change nothing...

As he felt the dead-weight of Chad's body slowly beginning to pull him over the edge, Ace knew that he didn't want the last thing he would ever see to be the face of his enemy. He wanted his final resting place to be in those lavender hues, and nowhere else. The supporting arm buckled. With fingers still curled around that thin wrist, he plunged over the edge. He had failed. There was no denying that now.

The ocean of flame served as an apocalyptic back-drop, rapidly approaching with their descent. Glazed over golden-green hues latched to the lavender eyes welling with tears. Yes, this was where he wanted to be. He would willingly die a thousand times over again if it meant he could be buried in those eyes. They plummeted past an eternity of mirrored windows reflecting the cataclysmic cityscape; drifted past the snowflakes of burning debris and ash.... and just before darkness encroached on his vision, before he could lose sight of those lavender eyes, the last shred of energy was used to mutter a somber, yet sincere "I'm so sorry...Please forgive me..."

This is how it always ended...

Every single time...

Nothing ever changed...

The light in his room was still on... or so it seemed anyway. It was actually just the illumination from the big screen TV that lit up the area of the bedroom. The volume was turned down so low that it was barely even audible, but the redhead had stopped paying attention to the movie a long time ago anyway. He'd dozed off as he lay on his back on the bed, one arm draped across his forehead while the other rested on his abdomen. Ace's chest rose and fell with each breath, as the tag on the chain around his neck glistened every once in a while when the flickering lights of the motion-picture caught it at the proper angle...He probably would have woken up from his nightmarish state just about now anyway, but the audible noise definitely helped as well.

A single eye parted its lids at first, mind reeling with disorientation. Repeatedly dreaming about your own death could NOT be psychologically healthy.... 'Hmm?' Was he hearing things? Had the electronic series of beeps just been part of that movie? No. Now he could distinctly feel the rhythmic vibration in his pocket that accompanied the noise.

Oh shit... Phone call! That's what that was. But who the hell could it be? What time was it anyway. Ace slid his arm from his sweating forehead and opened both eyes while he reached into his right pocket to pull the mobile phone from the folds of the tattered denim. The bright light of the screen sent a wave f pain to his eyes for a brief moment as he tried to read the name of the caller ID. "What the hell..." he mumbled to himself, before pressing that 'answer' button. "Yes...?" The redhead's voice was low, hints of drowsiness still clinging to it. As one hand held the phone to his ear, the one which had been resting on his stomach now lifted to rub fingertips against closed eyelids. There was a silence at the other end of the line that lasted for several seconds, and for just a moment Ace was sure that the call must have been made by mistake, though just to be certain he followed up calmly with a quiet and inquisitive "Hello?...". At last, there was a sign of life on the other side.

The female voice cleared her throat and sounded almost embarrassed that she'd even placed this call...and was trying to cover up this fact. "Oh... hey. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry....Just... Go back to bed. I'll call you in the morning." The redhead's hand returned to rest on his stomach as a pierced eyebrow raised with curiosity. This was certainly interesting. Her words had sounded ... slightly slurred, though maybe she was just really tired. It was fairly late after all. "Hey, it's cool. I wasn't really asleep anyway...what's up? You got something you need me to do? Or did you just decide to call up lil' 'ol me for the fun of it?" That last inquiry was presented with a hint of mischief that, although seemed to be ever-present in his voice, was slightly emphasized now. Why else would Carmon possibly call the freelancer in the middle of the night unless she wanted him to do something work related... There was another short pause and a gentle sigh was audible before her words trickled through the receiver again. "No no, it's nothing, really... Listen, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

The redhead's golden-green eyes widened the slightest amount. That specific tone in her voice, the casual manner in which she spoke to him... Holy shit! She actually did just want someone to talk to! There were times when the redhead forgot that Captain Carmon Matthews was actually a real human being when she wasn't in uniform. Ace's lips curled into a smile. "So...you did call just 'cause you wanted to talk to me... I'm flattered, Captain." Perhaps the redhead's facetious tone was starting to bite at her a bit. She'd been having a horrible evening, but of course that sort of thing was a bit difficult to tell over the phone.

"Just...forget it. I shouldn't have called you." Ace's lids narrowed the slightest bit as he heard the now audible quiver in the woman's voice. Was she upset about something? He'd have to get to the bottom of this. "Hey, hang on a minute... Have you been drinking?... What's going on?" The sheer fact that she hadn't hung up on him yet gave the freelancer the impression that the woman really did mean to reach out to him in some odd way. Was it a subconscious cry for help, or maybe she just needed a distraction from whatever it was that she happened to be dealing with in her personal life. "Yeah... I have." She sounded almost disappointed in herself although she had no reason to be. Everyone had a different means of coping with the obstacles in life...and there was nothing wrong with indulging in a bit of booze in order to take the edge off. She certainly didn't sound wasted, but there was no way of telling exactly how much the mercenary captain had consumed either. Ace waited for her to continue while he ran the fingers of his free hand through his mess of red hair. Another sigh was heard before she resumed her words slightly hesitantly. "I've been seeing this guy for a while... and I caught him cheating on me earlier... So I had to get out." That pierced eyebrow of his lifted again as eyelids narrowed to thin slits upon hearing her words. Honestly, Ace had no idea that the blonde woman was even in a relationship with anyone. He had never seen her wear a wedding or engagement ring, so he had assumed she wasn't married... but other than that, they had never discussed any sort of personal affairs amongst each other. Did she say that she was 'out'? Maybe she was stranded somewhere and that's why she called him...

"Shit... I'm sorry. I had no idea..." Ace actually felt bad now, mostly about having answered the phone like the smarmy ass-clown he usually tended to be when talking to the woman. A gentle sigh brushed passed his lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose between the fingers of his unoccupied hand. "Where are you? Do you need a ride or something?" The fingers of that hand wandered upward and stayed nestled in the thick red hair once more as he awaited the captain's answer to his question. "Uumm... I'm over at Dark Star. They're wine selection is epic. Don't need a ride, I'm just waiting for this rain to stop." Rain? What rain? When did it start raining? Ace listened for a split second, and sure enough, over the quiet television, and the silence of the remainder of the peacefully sleeping members of his living space, he could hear the sound of heavy raindrops pounding against the roof of the establishment. Huh, maybe that's what had originally lulled him to sleep in the first place; he really couldn't remember. And wait just a minute... did she just use the word 'Epic' in a sentence?! The hell? Ace blinked for a moment before he could will himself to respond to her.

"Dark Star... the bar on that little strip of Seventh Street? That's like... 3 blocks away. Why don't you just come over here. We've got a spare room, and that way you're not driving all the way home in the rain." Was the redhead ACTUALLY proposing a responsible solution to the woman's situation.... or were there one or two ulterior motives crammed up his sleeve? It was difficult to tell; it was Ace, after all. But in all honesty, he really didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She'd been drinking, god only knows how much, and the rain always turned drivers into complete fuck-wads... so it was probably for the best if Carmon didn't attempt to make the 20 minute commute from the bar back to her home. When she responded to his proposal, her voice sounded slightly hesitant, though it appeared that it wasn't going to take a whole lot of persuasion to get her to comply. "I don't know, Ace... Are you sure? I mean... it's late. I don't want to impose." The freelancer chuckled while fingers idly played with the items attached to the chain around his neck. "Oh, shut up and just come over. I'll see you when you get here." And with that said, the redhead ended the phone call.

Ugh, that fucking dream.... it got him every time. No matter how often he had it, that looming sensation of dread remained. It probably wouldn't take Carmon too terribly long to get there, but she'd most likely let him know when she arrived so that he could unlock the door. Wait, hadn't she been fairly cross with the freelancer earlier? Yeah, if he remembered correctly she had called and left him a message while he was in the shower, chewing the redhead out for some kind of "assault" on a certain Lieutenant Jason Sterling... Not to mention that vanishing act that he and Chad both pulled to get out of having their photos taken in those despicable uniforms. Ace sighed drowsily. Man, he wanted to go back to sleep... but if it meant having to suffer through that dream all over again, he'd rather just stay awake until sunrise. Surely, there were ways in which he could entertain himself until then. Ace sat up and brought his legs over the edge of the bed, pressing soles of bare feet against the hardwood floor. A cigarette was plucked from the pack on his bedside table, and lit. The hybrid disliked not having his zippo... He'd really need to get that back from Mr. fuck-wad sometime soon.

Prior to passing the hell out to a movie earlier, he'd had a short conversation with Dane over a beer and a shot of rum. The topic of discussion had been Chad, the massive amounts of pain meds the kid was taking and of course he proposed the idea of having a sauna put into the basement as soon as possible. Dane didn't even have a single clue as to the severity of Chad's physical discomforts, and when Ace educated him regarding the long showers and steamed bathroom, the bartender actually felt remorseful for having chewed the youth out about it. The freelancer had also taken a bit of a gander at those case files for the new assignment he had been handed, figuring he'd get a head start on sifting through all the technicalities... the devil was always in the details after all. He'd made quite a bit of headway too... called the girl's cell phone provider to get the necessary trace information, followed up with friends and family, all of whom were rather curious to be speaking with the rather eccentric Italian hybrid. But, at the end of it all he did bridge all of the missing gaps in the story well enough to make ends meet. That was usually good enough for him, and from then on, he'd just improvise. It was a method behind his madness, and it generally got the job done.

Minutes ticked by as he smoked his cigarette, nerves still tingling with that after-image of dread. Fucking dreams... why did they have to affect him like this? The screen of the mobile phone lit up again, though this time it was a message, and not a call. "I'm outside." Lips curled into a mischievous smile before he snuffed out his cigarette and rose from the comforts of the bed.

He didn't even bother turning on the hallway light as he moved quietly over the hardwood, though when he set foot downstairs, the flick of a switch lit up the bulbs right above the bar. Several seconds later, a turn of his wrist unlocked the dead bolt of one of the elegant double-doors that lead to the street corner sidewalk. It really was raining quite a bit. "Sorry again for all this trouble... thanks for letting me crash." The woman said as she stepped over the threshold while Ace slid the door lock back into its place. He knew she was upset, how could she not be, but the independent military captain wasn't about to let any of it show. How embarassing would it be to start getting all weepy-drunk in front of the hot-tempered freelancer? Carmon's voice hadn't been too terribly loud, but just in case, he lifted his hand and brought his extended index finger in front of his lips. That simple silver ring gleamed as it caught the dim light from behind the bar. The captain pulled her face into an apologetic grimace. "It's no problem... Come on, the rooms are upstairs." Even at barely the volume of a whisper, his voice bore that unique resonance that could most accurately be described in one word: Dangerous.

Carmon nodded her head of blond, damp hair and smiled up at the tall hybrid before she proceeded to bend down to slip the high-heeled shoes from her feet. Even in her inebriated state, she wanted to be considerate. She wasn't dressed in the black and blue uniform that Ace was so used to seeing her in. It was a little strange, actually. It didn't seem like he was in the presence of Captain Carmon Mathews, but rather someone who could be her identical twin. Reaching almost down to her knees was a black pencil skirt sporting a long side-slit from which the creamy, pale flesh of the feminine thigh spied with enticing temptations. Blond strands were worn up as they always were. She had adorned herself with several pieces of elegant, silver jewelry and her cranberry top appeared to have a back made entirely of lace. God, she must have gotten all dressed up to go surprise her man only to walk in on him in the sack with someone else... Sounds like a shitty start to any evening; but hey, this was one of the reasons the hybrid didn't bother with exclusive relationships. The drama was just entirely too troublesome.

Ascending the stairs to the second floor, the woman wobbled a bit and probably would have fallen flat on her face from missing a step if she hadn't reached out and grabbed onto Ace's arm. The redheaded freelancer helped her find her footing with a crooked smirk on his face. Man, this was kind of entertaining, in an awkward sort of way. He wondered if she'd pay him extra on that new assignment if he promised to never mention this to anyone at Cipher.... Eh, nah... maybe blackmailing her wasn't the best idea right now... he might find his ass locked in one of the holding cells at headquarters for a few days at that rate...kinky... Ace fished his soggy train of thought out of the storm gutter and tried to focus. At the top of the stairs, he gestured to each of the doors systematically, starting with the first on the right. "Chad's." His finger moved across the hall. "Dane's." He stepped nearly noiselessly across the hardwood toward the remaining two rooms with Carmon keeping close by his side. "Mine" He gestured to his own door and then pointed to the opposite one. "You." The final door at the very end of the hall stood slightly ajar. "Bathroom". The woman offered an observant nod, but remained quiet. She still couldn't quite believe how much this place had change since the day Ace claimed it... rescued it from becoming another hole in the wall, or den of debauchery.

The freelancer reached his right hand out to press down on the brass door handle before nudging the dark walnut wood from its frame. Stepping forward into the darkness of the room, he flicked on the light and allowed the woman to follow into the space that was to be her accommodations for the night. "Make yourself at home..." Words were still quiet as they brushed past lips still painted with hints of that smug smile of his; right hand gestured to the open space of the room. The redhead so very often had the woman's thoughts in a knot, like she was doing mental acrobatics to try and wrap her head around the guy. And this, was certainly one of those moments... She stepped from his side and wandered over the hardwood floor, taking in the scene of the room like it was some sort of museum. What the hell... this guy, with his slacker, devil-may-care attitude and as unpredictably temperamental as a tempest... How could someone with such qualities turn around and pull off something like this? What were some of these motivations he channeled from time to time that actually painted the ex-hitman in an admirable, honorable, and dependable light. But finally, the woman ceased her steps and turned to face the freelancer, blue eyes meeting with golden-green. "This is great... Thank you again." Her pink-tinted lips, sporting a hint of glossy shine, attempted to pull themselves into a forced smile. She resembled a discarded flower.

Ace offered her a nod, and combed long fingers through his red mane of hair before he slowly backed away to give the woman some privacy. "Good night, Carmon..." He hardly ever addressed her by her first name. Not that he had respect for her title, or position... No, but he did have respect for her as an individual...and tonight, she came to him for personal, not professional reasons... so it only seemed appropriate for the hybrid to address her casually, treat her like a person, not a title.
"Good night, Ace."

Returning to his own room across the hall, he entered the space flooded by the television light and quietly closed the door behind him. He longed for the comforts of his bed and promptly laid down on his back. With legs outstretched, he crossed one ankle over the other, and brought his arms up to let interlaced fingers support the back of his head. Ah, finally, he could relax again... maybe he'd finish watching that movie now. All he hoped was that he wouldn't pass out again and restart that foreboding dream. A few moments passed while he lay there watching the movie with a blank, empty stare. His thoughts were wandering and he almost didn't hear the nearly inaudible tapping against his door. A pierced eyebrow lifted. Now what?... The door opened just the slightest bit, and thanks to the illumination of the TV, he could make out the outline of the woman's face as she peeked her head around the edge of the dark walnut wood. "Ace... you asleep?" The freelancer kept his tired gaze trained on her and blinked a few times before he replied with a haphazard "Yes". Evidently this entertained the captain because she had to stifle a laugh as she slipped fully into the room. Yes, yes, he was a master of comedy... Carmon appeared to still be wearing exactly what she had when she arrived, but she had let her hair down and removed the jewelry. Golden locks trickled down past her shoulders. He'd never even realized just how long it actually was... she always wore it pinned up every time they met.

"Sorry to bother you again....but... could I borrow a shirt.... or just something to sleep in?" Her whispered words almost sounded like she was afraid to ask. It was odd seeing her in such a vulnerable position. Ace's pierced eyebrow twitched and a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "Yeah, sure." He probably could have said something clever, tossed some remark at the woman, but his mind just wasn't in the right place for it. Once again he moved his tired body from the comforts of the wine-colored duvet with a faint sigh and stepped toward the huge television beneath which his dresser was positioned. He pulled a soft, white, v-neck t-shirt from the top drawer. Considering that the woman was maybe 5ft 6 at best without her heeled shoes, anything that the hybrid gave her would be entirely too large... but hey, at least it would be comfortable. "Here..." His body turned back toward Carmon before he held the comfortable, white garment out to her. Now, any sensible individual would assume that Captain Carmon Matthews claimed the shirt with quiet words of gratitude and retreated back to the comfortable privacy of her appointed four walls... But this was not the realm of such sensible people, but a realm ruled by Murphy's law where everything seemed possible, and nothing ever was exactly what it seemed.

Being that this WAS after all, once upon a time, the Diamon Lounge, a place that some cosmic powers of the universe apparently declared as a dumping ground for all things fucked up, who could possibly expect a single day to go by normally? It was just too much to ask for.
The woman's body swayed gently with the telltale signs of drunkenness. Teeth bit lightly into her bottom lip. Ace stood frozen, waiting for her to take the shirt and go. Instead, slender feminine arms crossed perfectly over the woman's torso. Fingers with painted nails curled around a hem and with one fluid motion, she pulled her cranberry top with that decorative lace up and over head of blonde tresses. Once Ace had realized what she was doing, eyelids parted, leaving him wide-eyed like a deer in headlights...completely flabbergasted. The cranberry top dropped to the floor. "Woah.... uum.." Eyes wandered along the contours of feminine curves. Was it getting warm in the room? He didn't even know what to say at this point. What the hell was she doing? Did she just decide to change right there in front of him? It was definitely true what they said about alcohol removing inhibitions... Ace turned his head. Golden-green eyes quickly darted away, averting the stunned gaze while he once again attempted to hold the white t-shirt out in her direction. From the corner of his vision he still saw her silhouette as one graceful hand lifted and reached out toward the hybrid's own extended arm. For a moment, Ace thought he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.... that this wasn't actually going where he thought it was going. But once again, he was reminded of the fact that this used to be Diamond's... and once again, he was wrong.

His muscles tensed momentarily when he felt the sensation of her fingertips at the back of his extended hand. A pierced eyebrow raised. Carmon took a lightly swaying half-step toward him, brushing fingertips past that hand that held the white fabric. Further they went, those feminine fingers, seductively pursuing a trail from forearm to elbow. Summer meadow hues shifted ever so slowly back to the woman as she proceeded to take another half-step toward him before he relaxed his arm. Fingers lightly traced the contours of muscle like she was studying him under the blue flickers of the television light. By the time that enticing touch had traveled up to his shoulder, she stood so close he could smell the subtle remnants of the perfume she wore. A breeze of a touch swept across the raised scar tissue of the bullet graze, causing his attention to fully return to the curvaceous woman who stood before him in nothing more than a bra and a pencil skirt. Ace was radiating heat like he had a fever. Carmon's pale blue eyes flicked up to find the half-Italian's unique oculars peering down at her in an almost calculating, predatory manner. In his head, the hybrid weighed the pros and cons of what this situation was quickly turning into. What if he just let it happen... let the cards fall where they may? How would Carmon feel about herself the next morning? Would she even remember?

Before the redhead could come to any firm conclusion, he found himself being nudged backward. Her hand was pressed against his chest over the fabric of that black tank. She nudged him a bit harder, applied a bit more pressure, and with eyes still latched to hers, he took one slow reversed step after another, until the back of his calves were stopped by the edge of his bed frame. Well, it looked like Carmon was making it pretty clear what she wanted... or... what she thought she wanted anyway. One more nudge from the commanding female and the hybrid sank backwards onto the surface of the deep red comforter. Fingers uncurled from around the fabric of that white cotton t-shirt. Climbing onto the bed, she hitched up her skirt so she could straddle his waist, looking like some feral creature, triumphant over a prized kill. Lids fell shut over summer-meadow eyes when she leaned over him and placed a sequence of kisses along the side of his throat. Her hand crept under the hem of his shirt as Ace's own slender digits began trailing their way up the side of her left thigh. Why hadn't she just taken the damn skirt off? ... maybe she wanted Ace to do it for her. Guess he'd find out soon enough. Her lips made their way around to the other side of his throat and that other, unoccupied hand of his lifted to press a warm palm against the bare flesh of her back. Locks of her hair tickled his collarbones and the side of his face, sending a wave of shivers along the length of his spine. Fingers traveled to the clasp of her bra. Ace pulled her scent into his lungs. She smelled faintly of.... lavender...and lilacs? Wait a minute... Dextrous fingers ceased moving while golden-green eyes fluttered wide open as though he'd just gotten bitch-slapped by his own memory. A bit of flashback humor... except it really wasn't that funny.

"Hey.... wait.... take it easy for just a minute, okay?" He couldn't even believe the words that were coming out of his mouth right now. Here he was, about to make the Captain of Cipher Corps writhe with indescribable sensations of ecstasy, but something in his mind was telling him to stop. "Why?" She placed another kiss over his jugular before speaking warm whispers into the redhead's ear. "I've seen you look at me....I know you want this..." Her tongue flicked out to place teasing, warm moisture against the pierced earlobe. A faint moan rose from his throat as fingers flexed over the flesh of her thigh. "I do... trust me.... I wanna do so many things to you right now, but..." Carmon promptly cut him off, delivering a gentle bite to the sensitive skin of his throat. "... But what?.... Afraid I won't like it?" The hybrid choked down another moan before he followed it up with a deep sigh. "...But... I'm not that big of a douche-bag..." God, he wanted to kick himself right now. Seriously, what kinda guy cock-blocks himself?! Finally Carmon lifted her head away from the side of the freelancer's face. She looked down at him with confusion, searching his eyes as though they were full of answers. Ace sat up and used one arm to support his weight, and the other to support the blonde woman still straddling his lap so she wouldn't fall. Her pale blue eyes shifted quite a bit... an indication of just how much the room must have been spinning for her. "Look, I'll make you a deal." Carmon tilted her head to the side curiously, a couple of pale strands brushed over her face. "If you still wanna do this when you wake up tomorrow, you can jump my bones and I promise I'll make you wish you'd have done it a long time go." The woman blinked, then looked away, eyes following the movement of Ace's hand as it moved from her back to reach for that white t-shirt. "But for right now... Let's just take it easy, okay?" Abdominal muscles tightened as he moved the arm that supported his weight so that he could make use of both hands to slip the soft, clean fabric of the garment over her head. "Okay... you're prolly right anyway." Her words sounded much more slurred now that they had before. This was so atypical of the redhead. If this had been any other random broad, he would be all over that right about now... but it wasn't some random broad... it was Carmon. After she slid herself from his lap, Ace scooted back toward the headboard to lay his head comfortably against his pillow. He'd half expected the woman to stumble back into her own room right about now after being denied by a smarmy, oversexed walking hard-on like Ace. It wasn't meant to be an insult, but alcohol could turn the most reasonable person into a petulant child. But no, Carmon stayed... it seemed like she took no offense to what the redhead had chosen to do. She didn't want to be alone tonight.

Ace's shirt was huge on the woman, and when she decided to wiggle out of the black skirt, the soft white fabric reached low enough to cover the important bits. Ace's eyebrows twitched. NOW she was taking the damn thing off...go figure. Carmon crawled across the large bed and laid down alongside the tall male, allowing her cheek to sink down against the place where chest and shoulder connected. Normally, Ace really wasn't really all too gung-ho about this sort of 'intimacy'. Cuddling and pillow talk were not a huge part of his repertoire... Usually he only layed there long enough after a romp to smoke a cigarette before he'd get up to leave... then they'd usually ask him something like 'Can we do this again sometime?'.... or 'Will you give me a call?'.... to which his typical response would be a nonchalant 'We'll see...' And usually, after that, he'd just vanish. He hadn't done that in quite a while though... Not since he'd met Chad anyway. Carmons eyes closed as she listened to the rhythmic breaths the hybrid took, each one as soothing as the ebb and flow of ocean waves washing over heated sand. He was warm too, putting off body hear like a human radiator. Even without a cover, she knew she wouldn't be cold. Ace was too tired to care at that point. He could feel his eyelids glowing heavier and didn't want to put forth the effort to move her head to another pillow. And besides.... it actually wasn't all THAT bad. The freelancer drifted into a blissfully dreamless sleep, letting the droplets of rain at his window serve as a lullaby.

When he woke early the following day, she was gone.

Ace sat up and let his eyes wander around the room. It looked like it was just past sunrise, maybe 8-ish? He didn't really care. The TV was still on. The large-caliber, heirloom, Mateba autorevolver with all its elegant filigree gleamed in the morning light against the dark wood of the bedside table. And right beside that, rested something else... it was his fucking Zippo. That smug jerk with the glasses must have given it to Carmon at some point. Ace sighed and combed his fingers groggily through red hair while he yawned before bringing his limbs into a stretch. "Well, so much for jumping my bones, I guess..." he mumbled to himself and scratched at the back of his neck. Dane was definitely awake, that much was for sure. He could smell the breakfast he was cooking up in the kitchen downstairs. It smelled pretty good, actually. Maybe he was cooking for Chad as well, if the kid was even awake yet... Despite the scent of the food, and the growl of his stomach, Ace couldn't will himself to go leave the room just yet. He just didn't feel like it. Once that kid was awake, it was always a battle over who got in the bathroom first. He'd just wait a while.

A few moments later, the redheaded hybrid could be found rolled onto his stomach on top of the deep red comforter of his bed, cigarette burning between his lips. With his weight propped onto his elbows, he grazed his fingers across the keyboard and touchpad of his laptop that sat in front of him now. However, it wasn't the laptop screen that he was looking at. From the notebook PC ran a long cable that hooked itself into that 70-ich TV screen on the opposing wall. As the right hand navigated through the images and text that appeared on the large screen, the fingers of the other hand idly tapped against his chin in a contemplative manner. From what Carmon had written in the files, the desperate parents of a 16 year old girl had sought out the help of Cipher Corps after all local law enforcement failed to assist them in searching for their missing daughter. The girl had vanished without a trace 6 days prior, though because the police saw no evidence of 'foul play' they refused to lift a finger. The assignment itself was simple: Find the missing girl or any hints regarding her whereabouts. The fact that there had been a handfull of other reported disappearances of local teenage girls lead the hybrid to believe that they might somehow be connected.

And so, Ace spent the majority of yesterday's early evening hours gathering and compiling data from cell phone records of all the recently missing young females (including the one from this assignment), and comparing them to one another in search of patterns or similarities. And what he found was rather interesting, or so he thought. The freelancer's eyebrows drew together as he zoomed in on what appeared to be a satellite view of an area-map of some sort. 'Hhmm...' Ace honestly didn't know too much about that particular part of town, all he knew was that the upper-East side was considered to be rather seedy and filled with clandestine individuals. This called for a more trained eye, and an individual with better knowledge of the city's odds and ends. "Hey Chad!...." The hybrid's voice rang through the quiet, humble silence of the room and drifted through the door out into the hallway quite clearly. After hearing no reply, he called out again, slightly louder still. "Oi! Chickadee, get your narrow ass in here for a minute!"

As he waited for the youth to make an appearance, tabbing through the windows of his web browser before switching back to the case file. Ace wondered if Carmon actually had any recollection of last night... and if so, how exactly she felt about it. Little did he know that the woman was actually still in the house, and that he might get the chance to ask her those questions personally. No, Ace thought for sure that she must have woken up and just taken off, too embarrassed to face the freelancer immediately after waking up in his bed.... without pants. And the clothes she had stripped off were no longer on his floor either. He was completely oblivious that the blonde woman was actually in the bathroom, nursing a hangover from the pits of hell.";

((Check it out, I got my own post!))
Dane had woken up rather early today... then again, he'd hit the hay sooner than usual the night before, so it was no wonder really. With everyone else still quietly asleep, he'd crawled out of bed and for once, didn't have to fight someone tooth-and-nail to get into the bathroom. It was strange, he thought to himself as he let the pleasantly warming water of the shower run down his back, he could have sworn he had woken up briefly and heard some voices in the hallway last night. Fingers combed backwards through strands of dark hair to rinse out the remaining shampoo suds. He shrugged off the though. It was probably just Ace's TV that he was hearing. Upon finishing his morning routine, he stepped back into the hallway with one towel wrapped around his waist, and another rolled up and draped over his shoulders. A curious eyebrow rose, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed for the first time that the door to the spare bedroom was open...not by much. Guess he had been too groggy to notice earlier. That door was usually never open... no one ever used it for anything. Dane's amber eyes wandered across the hall to Ace's door, which also stood slightly ajar. The hybrid's friend stroked the dark hairs of his beard in contemplation before he decided to take a quick and curious peek. It was a bit nosy of him, that was true, but he just wanted to confirm his suspicions, that's all... he wasn't even going to open that door anymore than it already was. From the crack of the barely open door, Dane could hardly make out anything... Most of the room was obscured by the walnut wood. His focus was drawn to the small bit he could see of the foot of the bed, where he spied a bit of movement. Okay... there were Ace's bare feet...and... wait a minute... there was another set of feet there too, shifting about on top of the deep red comforter. Despite that Dane couldn't see what she looked like, he was definitely shure that this was a female. Woah, wait a minute, was she getting up? He watched as those feminine feet slowly slid over the foot of the bed, followed by a long set of bare legs. Eyelids widened over those amber eyes when he realized 'Oh shit, she's gonna see me, and I'm gonna look like a total creep!'

Trying not to lose his towel in the process, he hurried hastily down the hall and back to his own room, where he shut the door behind him with a sigh of relief. So there WAS someone else here after all, he hadn't just been hearing things. Oh well, it's not like he wasn't used to this sort of thing from Ace by now. Through their years of friendship, the redhead had been with all sorts of different girls... but what was a bit peculiar was that he'd let this one into his own home...That usually didn't happen. Dane could hear the sound of a closing door, then another shortly afterwards. She must have gone into the bathroom. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed to himself as lips parted with a little grin. "Ah well, at least he'll be in a better mood today..." Words were mumbled to himself as he got dressed. A nice pair of jeans and a crimson colored button down shirt would do the trick. A black vest was thrown on over the whole ensemble but left open. He slipped on socks and shoes... the tile floor in the kitchen was just too damn cold to stand around barefoot. The flat-cap hat was left off for now, if he wore it while his hair was still drying, it would fuck up all sorts of things. While he left his room, Dane rolled the sleeves of the crimson shirt to his elbows and took one final glance over his shoulder toward the bathroom door before he headed quietly downstairs to get the newspaper as he did every day. The light above the bar had been left on. Dane sighed and shook his head of damp hair. Honestly... if that guy was gonna randomly have people over for a late-night lay, he could at least make sure the lights got turned back off again. At least he had remembered to re-lock the doors, the bark-keep observed as he fetched the newspaper from door step. When he made his way back toward the bar area, he unrolled the newsprint and laid it down on the polished wood of the bar top before rounding the corner into the kitchen.

The kitchen looked much like any restaurant-style kitchen... lots of countertop space, everything was made from stainless steel, the fridge was huge, and the stovetop was gas powered. Not that they really needed anything that extravagant, since it was only for residential use anyway... but hey, go big or go home, right? As Dane scooped some grounds into the coffee pot and flicked the 'ON' switch, he thought about that conversation he had with Ace yesterday. Man, that guy had been in a horrible mood... But while the redhead had talked about Chad and how a sauna would help to manage his pain, he had been completely sincere. Their dynamic was surely a strange one... but Dane was glad that it had all worked out this way. While the large pot of coffee brewed, Dane looked into the fridge and tapped his whiskered chin. "Hmm... 'the hell am I in the mood for today... No one else is up, so no use cooking for everybody..." He eyed the eggs, then the mini-portabella mushrooms. "And besides, if they're hungry they can make their own food." Eggs, onion, mushrooms and a red bell pepper were set on the counter before he shut the fridge and moved to the pantry. What was he looking for there?.. Oh yeah, fresh garlic! Wait a minute.... Dane's eyebrow shot up with a puzzled look as he stood there, looking over every shelf. He could have sworn they had more canned goods in here before... Were those other two getting up in the middle of the night and gorging themselves on the preserved goods? He sighed again and shook his head as he grabbed the garlic. "At least they're eating... guess I'll just have to go get more."

The coffee was done, his breakfast ingredients were sliced, diced, and thrown into a bowl where they were mixed thoroughly with the eggs. The whole thing was poured out onto the hot surface of the flat-top and folded into an omelet. When all was said and done, he took his plate and his mug of coffee out to the main room, where he sat down on one of the bar stools and began eating while amber eyes wandered over the headline on the front page of the newspaper. 'Local Police Stop Search for Missing Girl'. So there he sat, quiet and content as he read his newspaper, waiting for the rest of the lot to come downstairs. It was just after sunrise.

Sleep had a strong hold on the boy as he lay there on his bed, a faint noise of air being pulled in and pushed out through his nostrils was the only sign he was even still alive at first when Ace came to check on him later. At first was the key phrase because the longer Ace stood by the more he'd see certain aspects about the boy that were normally kept shut tight behind his bedroom door. As the pill bottle was lifted from his lax hand those bony fingers would twitch a time or two. Close inspection showed it wasn't just his fingers though. The muscles through his whole arm were jerking under his pale flesh. Spasms were causing his body to tremble ever so slightly as if he were suffering through some sort of mild seizure.

His throat constricted for a moment while lips parted as if he were going to start breathing through his mouth. Instead faint whimpers were causing his vocal cords to vibrate making him sound like some sort of kicked dog..or puppy. Something small and defenseless. It lasted only seconds before the boy tried to roll from his side though the method he used even while sleeping was strange. Instead of his limp body simply flopping onto his back and rolling over Chad instead started to wriggle. Pulling his arm around and under him the kid somehow managed to slip to his stomach and then wriggle his other arm under his body yet again. It left him with his second pillow against his back before he started to grope around for it. A deep grunt of pain was offered when his hand slid behind him and started to move for his pillow until finally fingers grasped the cloth case and he dragged it around to his front again.

Skinny arms wrapped tight around the pillow in front of him as he pulled it close against his body, his face nuzzling into the fabric until all that could be seen of his features was the corner of his lips ( which was pulled down ever so slightly), some of his nose and the puckered scar decorated flesh of his eye. Bangs fell messily over his brow before laying out in an ashen gray blanket atop of his pillows. A deep breath was brought in through his nostrils as he shifted his position once more, his hips being the target this time as Chad subconsciously rotated his body so he was laying a bit more on his stomach and more off of his back.

It wouldn't be much of a secret just why Chad seemed to roll himself that way, or was found sleeping in a bit of an odd position. It was especially clear to Ace considering just what he had been told, or better yet lectured on, earlier that day. Even while asleep Chad was managing to keep as much weight as possible off his mangled back, the aversion to pain so deeply ingrained that it was a natural act for him to adjust as needed.

When Ace finally left his room very little went on other than those faint whispers.

It was cold

Deathly cold

It was always like that

He could never escape it the chill seeping through his skin, crawling deep down through his muscles and tendons before beginning to freeze the bone. It made it hard to move but then again where was he supposed to be going in all this darkness? Where was he anyways? Nothing looked familiar...well more than likely nothing would look familiar if only he could actually see. Hearing on the other hand was a totally different aspect. It started with low chuckles at first, a sound that would rumble deep in the chest before it began to bubble up. The sound chilled him even further, causing ice to sprout in his veins. That laugh. Oh god he knew that laugh.

Never had he wanted to hear it again yet every night it was the same. While safety might be granted in the physical world...the mental was a different story and like Ace, Chad suffered from his own demons, his own terrors. Malkavich's laughter would build to the point that his ears ached from the volume of it all as he tried to pull his hands in. It was a futile attempt because though he had full mobility of one arm the other was strung high above him. Something warm and wet was trickling over his flesh, down to his shoulder and chest letting him know that he was wearing no clothing..

Its when the fire set in, the sharp crack of leather sounding just before a blazing trail was left across his back. The shock of it had him screeching, his body jerking forward and more of that liquid fire lapping at his body, this time his arm, or more specifically...his wrist. It lasted seconds...minutes..hours..an eternity. His throat continued to produce such inhuman screams until finally he simply couldn't utter another sound.

Blood coated his body though there was no warmth to the crimson liquid..it was as cold as everything else "Filthy trash, did you really think that I'd just let you go? You destroyed me...You destroyed everything I worked for." The hated mans voice echoed from all around Chad making the youth shiver violently with both the onset of hypothermia and fear. There might of been a moment that his bladder released..he was unsure nor unashamed of it at this point. "Since you've ruined my life...I think that I'll ruin yours...starting with your friends."

Suddenly light flooded a small area just in front of Chad's knee's...a silver platter resting on the ground holding something that caused those lavender eye's to widen in absolute horror. Jerking on the restraint...the barbed wire wrapped around his arm Chad tried to pull away..tried to escape the 'reality' that was resting at his feet. Another spot light..another soul wrenching sight..and another...He couldn't do it! He couldn't!! To his left displayed so proudly was Dane's face...only he was missing his skin. Every inch of flesh flayed away to expose muscle and tendons to view. The rest of his body was bound with barbed wire much similar to the way his own arm was wrapped.

A hand appeared from behind, grasping bloody locks of hair to shove Dane's face into a plate of something..something that made him screech...to produce gagging noises of pain...Salt..it was salt. He couldn't watch, already bile was starting to bubble in his stomach as his eye's shifted to the right. He shouldn't of looked. The diseased and rotting corpse of a once beautiful woman hung there, crucified, nails drilled through her wrists and feet..Her body reeked of death as ooze and slime dripped from her decaying form..Once beautiful thick hair was straggly and almost colorless. Chad remembered it though, the way those beautiful blond locks had flowed, the way rotten lips used to be so full, curling at the corners in a smile always directed towards him...

The bile flipped in his stomach, pushing its way up as he ripped his gaze away from what had once been his mother..only to see the worse sight of all. That platter would of been innocent enough...If it hadn't been decorated by a head of bright red hair. Well...it wasn't Ace's full head..his bottom jaw was missing after all...though somehow the tongue was still attached and though no body was. Instead it was the nightmares fuel that let that tongue flop around as if the Italian was trying to say something from beyond the grave.

"You'll ruin them all. They'll die because of you."

Then there was water..water everywhere..stinging his wounds..flooding his nostrils, forcing its way into his mouth where it began to fill his lungs. His limbs thrashed frantically as bubbles escaped around his face. His lungs were on fire...a cold fire as the icy waters claimed his body for themselves. He couldn't do anything...he couldn't fight back against it! He was going to die! He was going to die....alone...and afraid.

A strangled scream pulled from Chads lips as he sat up, struggling with the heavy comforter on his bed. It only took him a moment to leap from his bed and race across the room for the garbage can kept there. Clattering to his knee's the muscles of his stomach clenched hard, bile and acid working their way up before explosively exiting his mouth. Several moments were spent like that, vomiting up what little decorated his stomach. Sitting back heavily Chad just sprawled out on his floor, sweat covering almost his entire form as muscles trembled from ghostly pin pricks of pain..heat rising from his back let him know how he had been thrashing under the blanket that Ace had placed over him the night before.

His throat felt raw too...had he been screaming again? Or was it just because of the way all his muscles had locked up on him..his eye's felt dry..crying in his sleep again. God he fucking hated this. Lifting a hand to rub hard at red hazed eye's the boy pushed the heal of his hand hard against his scared eye socket for a moment. "Jesus Christ...is it to much to ask for one night..just one night of normal sleep..this is killin me." And it really did look like he had been through the wringer...well it was to be expected considering the shit he had gone through the last few days..studying non-stop for academic work..which sucked since he had a bitch of a time just reading let alone studying. Then there had been the close call with that assessment..That caused a shiver to run down Chads spine.

It seemed he wasn't going to get the recover time he really wanted causing Chad to grumble the minute he realized that Ace was trying to call for him. He had only missed the first summons thanks to his door being closed and the muffled noise being over powered with the sound of his own vomiting. Grabbing a simple white tank top the youth started to pull it over his head at the same time he opened his door, just in time to hear that hated nickname. "Shove it Roach I'm comin." He called down the hall. Bare feet moved his small body silently before he slipped into the older man's room.

That scared arm was lifted so that fingers could rub through messy locks of those odd prematurely gray strands as he fought off a yawn...and failed. "What do you want?" Those lavender hued eye's spied Ace laying on his bed in much the same position he had been resting in even before Chad had come into the room. He unconsciously copied Chads action of running fingers through morning messed strands of hair that created that crimson mane of his. "Morning Sunshine." His voice now held that familiar cold, calm, raspy and almost metallic quality as it usually did. There was always something about that voice...something that caused a mild shiver to travel over Chad's skin like an electrical current..as if his attention were being demanded..coaxed for...sought after. What normally threw the whole tone off though was that ever present hint of facetiousness though..Which was the reason why Chad frowned so hard at the mutt sometimes.

The one time urchin watched as Ace turned his attention towards the large screen of his tv which apparently was currently hooked up to his laptop..ok that was impressive..no time for that though since apparently there was actually a reasoning behind all of this which meant that Chad could tolerate being in boxers and a tank top for a little longer since this was apparently work after all. Watching as a picture of a young girl was brought up Chad would glance at Ace for a moment as he was told the females name was Alice Greene..Stepping closer to the tv Chad seemed to be alert..those strange eye's of his darting back and forth in a familiar pattern that Ace would of learned to by now. The youth was memorizing the image in front of him, down to the very last freckle he could detect. That hyper awareness he had developed on the street apparently worked quite well in producing somewhat of a photographic memory when it came to faces and people.

"Alice and a couple of other teenage girls went missing last week and the police stopped searching for her.... so once again we're getting paid to pick up government slack...go figure." Chad felt a tingle on the back of his neck causing his gaze to trail over his shoulder...why the fuck was Ace looking at him like that..What Chad didn't realize was the wondering question that filtered through the Italians mind about things being heard in the middle of the night. "Anyway, I already did all the grunt work...boring data gathering bullshit, but there is one thing that I'm having trouble figuring out." An eyebrow raised in surprise that Chad didn't bother to hide...It wasn't often that Ace actually admitted to needing help with something. When the Italian had his finger shift the mouse and then click back to the large view of a map he would then manipulate the controls to zoom in to a particular area.

"This is the one area where all of the missing girls have gone to in the last few weeks before they went missing according to their cellphone triangulation anyway... But from what I can tell, this area is just riddled with old abandoned factories and warehouses...there is NOTHING there that would give these girls any reasons to go out there..." Ace's head turned away from the tv screen and looked at Chad's back a rather inquisitive expression on his face "Or am I wrong?"

Weight shifted from one leg to another as Chad reached over his shoulder and started to scratch just above the spot between his shoulder blades..damn skin was getting itchy again..good sign of healing...bad time of dealing with it. "Yes and no." Well that was an odd answer but it wasn't about to be left unexplained. "A lot of shit actually goes down in this area..its just a question of what sort of activity your looking for...Here I'll show you." Stepping closer to the tv Chad would lift his hand, pointer finger directed outwards "Gang controlled, gang, gang and gang. That follows this line here." He would trace out certain holdings and territory. "That leaves this area hear a technical 'No Man's Land' " His hand swept out to circumference a huge circle in the middle.

Turning to the left he would point out three separate buildings "These are where the homeless go to sleep when the shelters are full and the weathers bad. Then when you go over here you get a lot of yuppies who think their all that." He tapped the right side of the screen on another building that looked the same as all the rest "Truthfully all that these punks do is drink beer and smoke pot...that they get from this building here." Again the kids hand shifted to indicate another building. "Guy hides his shit pretty good but I've seen it a few times, nice little operations he has going." Chad's eye's swept the screen once more before he stopped "That one though..that's normally used for the big party's..things like heavy metal concerts from local bands..or raves. They use it because its mostly just a flat floor plan on the inside..A nice huge area with plenty of walk ways that they can hang their lights from. I think it used to be a butchers warehouse..refrigerated for meats and shit."

Chad stepped back from the tv before he flopped himself on the edge of Ace's bed for a moment, his hand coming around to start scratching at his lower back this time. "Oi, Ace. How many girls did you say went missing? You said you did all the grunt work already right? Well did they have anything in common with one another other than vanishing around here?" Those fingers continued to dance across his skin as he tried to chase away the annoying itch though it was obvious from the look on his face that those mental gears were twisting. "Something like trouble at home. Fighting with the parents..siblings..A bad break up with a boyfriend. School trouble like sudden falling grades or behavioral issues. Mostly anger related stuff, maybe spouting off nonsense about feeling...Oh I don't know restrained..constricted, stifled?"

When the young male turned his attention back to the redhead he would see the way that Ace was tapping his chin with a bent index finger, a contemplative gaze resting not on the screen but on Chad instead "Raves huh?" He would mumble to himself before giving a nod of his head to show that he had been listening attentively to what Chad had spoken of. Of course in Ace's mind this was beginning to make a bit more sense since he had done the grunt work and research. It never failed to surprise Ace at just how well Chad knew his way around the streets of the city..there was no denying the mastery of his memory. Ace probably would of had to do a hell of a lot more digging before he would of even come up with a scratch of a clue to what Chad had just spilled out. Apparently this was one of those places the local cops hadn't busted yet.

"Its five girls in total so far." Ace's hand came up to scratch at the back of his head while the other remained to steadily support the weight of his upper body. "You know come to think of it...all of them had been fighting with their parents. Its actually the reason why the cops gave up after a while. They just assumed the girls were runaways and would show up eventually when the truth of street life finally hit home." The man returned his arm to rest beside the other against the deep red comforter and beamed Chad a wicked little grin. "Nice work! I think you just found our next lead. Now do me a favor and get out."

The utter abruptness of it all confused Chad for a moment making him sneer at Ace "Why the sudden rush to get me out of here? You got a girl friend hidden under your bed?" The boy stood, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at Ace for a moment..only to watch the red head do something on the lap top...Cheeks flushed the same color as the Italian's face when Chad heard the sounds of moans coming from the screen behind him..A quick glance proved that it was some sort of porn...not another word was mentioned..not another glance given as Chad just scooted his little ass out of the room as swiftly as possible.

What a fucking perv. Grumbling to himself again Chad moved back to his room to gather up his towel and Ipod. The ear buds sliding into his ears as he blasted the music loud enough to drown out the surrounding world. Humming to himself Chad started to make his way back down the hall and towards the bathroom. Fingers gripping the doorknob as it was twisted and the door pushed open. Eye's were closed as his head bounced to the beat of the music as he shut the door behind him and dropped his towel to the floor..grabbing his tank top Chad swiftly pulled it up and over his head, threading his Ipod through the fabric...which led him to see something he hadn't expected at all.

A highly stunned Carmon..dressed only in a pair of panties and a bra that was currently in the process of being removed. The music had drowned out the sound of the shower already running it seemed..Lavender eye's steadily grew larger and larger until it was almost comical. Pale flesh stained a heavy red that seemed to increase the shadows and smudges of tiredness under his eye's..Thing was he didn't feel tired anymore...and no longer did he have an urge for a soak in steam..nope...now his only urge was to just bail out of this incredibly awkward situation. The boys mouth seemed to be broken since it was moving yet producing no sounds..fingers twitched before suddenly he fled. Zipping through that door. Now just because he didn't swing that way didn't mean Chad couldn't appreciate the female form...thing was he didn't quite want to be thinking of Carmon in that way..it was disturbing.

Storming into Ace's room Chad gave little care to any protest given before his bony fist cracked down hard on the back of the Italians neck if he could get to it..if not then it would be a hard bone on bone contact of his knuckles snapping down against the others knee cap "Your a fucking asshole. I'd appreciate some fucking warning next time. If this was some idea of a joke then I'm not amused." His arms crossed over his bare chest not yet self conscious enough of the situation to realize he had abandoned his shirt in the bathroom in his panicked flight "Why the hell would you find it funny not to tell me that Carmon's in the fucking bathroom?! I JUST WALKED IN ON HER WEARING NEXT TO NOTHING I'M GONNA THROTTLE YOU!!" With that finally roar the shorter male would launch himself at Ace in some attempt to bring retribution to a situation where he had been horribly embarrassed and caught off his guard.

The redheaded ex-hitman really hadn't cared much that the 17 year old housemate was parading around his room in just a tank and boxers, in fact, Ace didn't even so much a twitch an eyebrow. He took it as a sign that Chad was feeling a bit more safe, or at the very least, a bit more comfortable in their little living space... despite of the monsters that still persisted to terrorize his dreamscapes each and every night. Something else they had in common.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment brought on by the advancement on the case, Ace double tapped the tip of his index finger against the touch-pad of the laptop to minimize the files. Chad stood at the foot of the bed, back bathed with the electric light of the still pornographic backdrop. A dismissive scoff was given by the redhead at the younger male's retort. The inquiry was a somewhat amusing one, considering the sequence of events which had occurred last night... and it was even more entertaining watching the kid ask about a girl hidden under the bed while he stood with his small arms crossed, silhouetted against the paused image of what looked to be a stripped woman sporting an iron collar and an array of other shackles both leather and metal. She was on her knees going down on a guy who was holding a heavy chain that attached to her collar in one hand while the other hand coiled tightly around the grip of a long braided riding crop. "I wish..." Ace said facetiously before un-pausing the flick. Summer-meadow eyes watched the pasty white skin of the youthful face flush with shades of pink before Chad scooted toward the safety of the exit and quickly shut the door after he'd vanished into the hallway. The freelancer chuckled to himself and slowly sat up, pulling his legs into a kneel with a quiet groan. Vertebrae crackled along the length of his neck. He'd been laying like that for too long. After bending his neck from shoulder to shoulder to loosen the stiff muscles, he let himself roll backwards on the field of wine colored textiles, back propped against an arrangement of pillows. Golden green eyes focused on the digital display of carnal indulgence. The music and noises that bordered animalistic trickled through the space of the room. Watching porn in High Def really wasn't all you'd think it would be.... But hey, as long as the content was somewhere up his alley, Ace really wasn't too terribly picky.

Dane had heard the sound of Ace's voice ring out upstairs, and though it was muffled and slightly distorted by the distance it had to travel, the barkeep could clearly make out that it was Chad who was being summoned. So those two were awake after all... what the hell did that little spitfire do now to make Ace start yelling at the ass-crack of dawn. Amber eyes glanced up from the newspaper and listened for a moment, and when he heard the younger male's voice in response to the summons, Dane shot a narrow eyed sideways glance to the bottle of Scotch on the other side of the bar. The barkeep didn't really think about this decision too long before he slid from the leather cushion of the stool, rounded the bar, and grabbed the bottle from which he poured a shot into the half-full cup of coffee. "Ah, much better..." He mumbled to himself as he took his first sip and returned his attention to the newspaper. A few pages were flipped before the next headline caught his attention. 'Body found exsanguinated in Pacific Ridge quarry'. The dark haired half-Irishman raised a curious eyebrow before he continued to read. 'Huh, Pacific Ridge... that's only a few hours South of here...' he thought to himself.

In the meantime, Carmon had finally decided that a shower might be beneficial in easing her throbbing head, so with bare feet against the tile floor, she stripped the oversize t-shirt over her head. Good god, what the hell had she done last night?! She had woken up, stretched out along Ace's side! In her underwear and one of his shirts no less! The soft white cotton fell to the floor and she turned her blonde head of hair to glance briefly into one of the mirrors already beginning to fog from the warm steam of the running water. What should she do? Should she confront the redhead and bluntly ask what exactly she had said and done to make a drunken fool of herself? No, she couldn't do that, especially not in front of all the others in the house... And what about that special someone who had betrayed her trust by taking another woman to bed? How would she approach that delicate situation. The woman sighed and reached back both hands to unclasp the elastic band of her bra. Slender arms began slipping through the straps of the chest harness just as she heard the sound of the door opening quietly behind her. Shit! She forgot to lock it! How could she have forgotten to lock it?! With the faintest of a squeak the woman spun around to face the figure who entered and took a slight hop backwards toward the two sinks. Arms now crossed quickly over her chest while sky blue eyes widened as Chad stripped off his shirt, still unaware of her presence. She couldn't get herself to choke up any words. Her skin crawled with goosebumps. It wasn't long before the turn of his head by another degree allowed for the woman's figure to appear in the corner of the youth's vision, and once that happened, those lavender oculars grew to mimic Carmon's own deer-in-headlights stare. She felt a hot flash of blood rush to her cheeks, much like Chad's own skin once more tinted with rose hues... though much more vibrant now than a few moments before. Well, this was awkward... Chad's shocked, slack-jawed expression and momentarily frozen state really wasn't helping. Her fingers were gripped around the flesh of her upper arms so tightly that her fingernails indented the skin. Finally, just as Chad turned on a dime to bee-line for the door, the woman managed to cough up a quiet and rushed "I'm so sorry I...." but Chad was already gone. Oh god, now she had gone and done it... so much for possibly getting out of this without making it awkward for anyone else but herself... With another sigh, she hurried to close and this time lock the door, just in case anyone else decided to storm in.

Sitting in his bedroom, the Italian hybrid had just gotten himself comfortable. Nimble fingers of his right hand wedged the button from its hole before they began to tug down the zipper of those tattered denim bluejeans. He was working at about half-mast... but not quite. It was a good thing he hadn't gotten much further than that, because before he could even separate the last half of those zipper teeth, his bedroom door sprung wide open and in rushed a rather....distraught looking Chad. The kid was still flustered to all hell and back, and this time he'd returned with even less clothing... what in the world? Golden green eyes flew as wide open as that door, and every muscle in his body tensed while his heart was momentarily shoved up into his throat. "HEY!!!!" Hands scrambled and couldn't move fast enough to block the shirtless youth's invasive action, the target of which was the back of his neck. Small, bony, coiled digits hit their mark with an audible smack. "WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?! I don't even know what you're going off about!!!" A joke?? What joke?! Ace squeezed shut one eye with a disgruntled sneer and lifted one hand to rub at the base of his neck. He didn't even bother pausing the flick, at this point he just didn't care. While the hot-headed hybrid didn't mind the occasional swat, slap, or jab when he actually knew he deserved it... but no knowing what the hell he'd just been hit for; that didn't sit too well with him and was made all too visible in a sour and serious countenance. Both summer-meadow hues now fixed on Chad like a judge while the kid stood cross-armed, bare-chested, and in nothing but his underpants at Ace's bedside.

A curious pierced eyebrow rose higher and higher as the younger male began to explain his sudden attack. All the while, Ace raised his right leg, bringing up one knee on which he rested the hand that had been rubbing at his already sore vertebrae. As he sat there, listening with visible impatience to what the youth had to say for himself, the redhead's eyes began to grow... and grow some more until a sheer expression of bewilderment infected the features of his face. What in the hell?! She was still there?! She hadn't left yet?! Those were the thoughts with which his mind was reeling at that moment, but the only thing the hybrid was able to say before he watched that little ball of fury throw himself toward him was a choked up "Woah, wait..." But it was too late. The nearly naked, scar tissue riddled kid was already in mid-lunge by the time those words brushed past his lips. This time however, Ace wasn't caught off guard like before. No, this time, he was ready for it, and those small, outstretched digits ready to wring the older male's neck were sloppy, impulsive, and yet predictable. If the ex-hitman had really wanted to hurt someone in self-defense, then he would have let himself be overtaken by instinct. Chad's frail wrist would have most likely been broken. But instead of letting that instinctive reflex dominate his reaction, Ace instead used the momentum of the youth's rushing motion to his advantage. Much larger fingers snapped up and coiled around one dainty wrist and with one fluid motion, a strong tug was given to that arm which would serve to not only derail the boy's path, but ultimately send his legs on a collision course with the edge of the bed to throw him off balance. Once that small body fell face first down against the soft fabric of the duvet comforter, Ace made his next move. Sitting up from his laxed position, he moved his body to follow along with the much smaller male. His grip loosened only to reposition his fingers so that he wouldn't twist the kid's arm out of place when he pulled it back and pinned it at the small of that severely scarred back. Struggling wouldn't help him too much now, even with that other arm having full mobility. The hybrid threw one leg over the boy's hips, practically straddling him without putting any actual weight down, the action of which caused an accidental collision between the heel of his foot and the bedside table. That engraved, family heirloom revolver hit the hardwood floor with a sound that resembled someone dropping one of those small free-weights made out of lead. His jaw clenched, knowing exactly what that sound was. Ace leaned over the boy's thin torso, applying just enough pressure to that pinned limb to keep the boy from pushing himself up. It's not that Ace really enjoyed being this domineering, but god damn it, he was tired of getting hit for such shitty reasons, so with one hand firmly holding down Chad's wrist, and the other positioned right beside that head of ashen hair, the redhead loomed over the youth much like he was doing a one-armed push-up. "I didn't know she was still here, okay! So calm the fuck down!" Any mischief in his voice was gone. It was a bestial growl. "The next time you hit me, I hope you have a better reason." Shit... what was he doing? Summer meadow eyes widened from narrow slits as they wandered from those ashen locks, and along that arrangement of horribly disfiguring scar tissue that marbled the landscape of skin and bone. Fingers loosened their grip slowly. Ace had still acted on instinct had he not?... Sure, he hadn't gone as far as crushing bone and tearing ligament... but was this really any better?

Dane had heard the commotion upstairs... the slamming doors, the yelling, and the clatter of heavy metal colliding with hardwood. That was enough to have the barkeep up on his feet and up the stairs in a matter of seconds. If those two were fighting, then no good was going to come of it... and if it wasn't stopped, then someone was sure to end up getting hurt. So Dane abandoned his breakfast and hurried as best as he could, taking two steps at a time and jetting down the hallway only to come to sliding stop at the last door... Ace's door. And what he witnessed as he swung his body through the frame of the door was... disturbing to say the least. There was his redheaded childhood friend with pants mostly undone, perched over a much much smaller minor of a boy in his skivvies... and on the massive plasma screen TV, low and behold, unfolded a scene of erotic depravity. "What..... in.....the.....fuck..... " That's really all that Dane could manage as he tried not to let his jaw hit the floor just like that revolver, eyebrows and fingers twitching in an adrenaline overdose.

He couldn't understand just why he was so angry this morning..maybe it was just a combination of things, the lack of sleep, night terrors, pain, stress and other aspects that probably were contributing to his foul mood. Then again anyone who woke up to puking should have a right to be feeling nasty. Then he had really been convinced that it was just one big joke being pulled over on him when he walked in on Carmon in the bathroom. Seriously was it to much to mention that their "boss" had spent the night?! That simmering rage hadn't been cooled any when Ace blatantly announced what he was planning on doing for the next..well how ever long he could last. God Chad hated that..he hated the sounds of it..he hated the concept of it..he hated everything related to the industry though for good reasons.

Ok so he could of handled the situation better...he should of knocked on the door..he shouldn't of just lashed out at the taller male..he should be watching his tone of voice....he should be more respectful of a superior but he couldn't think past the fact that Ace had done it all purposely just to embarrass him. Its what spurred the sloppy physical attack against the Italian, the boy had simply snapped. So lacking in true social skills that Chad simply couldn't understand how to handle every day 'normal' life. To him it was all so abnormal that it felt as if every moment was spent studying something, learning something new or making mental notes on how he was supposed to be behaving. What he didn't realize was that the severe mood swings he was suffering from was actually a side effect of the pain medication.

It seemed as if the world around him suddenly slowed down to a second by second frame to the male as he felt fingers curling around the slender curve of his wrist Chad didn't have time to react even though it seemed to take an eternity to feel the older male disrupt his balance and cause his legs to slap hard against the side of the bed. It didn't hurt but it caused the rest of his body to continue with its momentum until he was face first on the others bed. What the youth didn't expect was the way that Ace decided he needed to be restrained. Every muscle tightened to the point that they quivered under his skin like a string about to snap. He didn't dare fight against the way his arm bent around and was pressed against his aching back. His other arm reached around above his head to frantically grab at the covers he was laying on top of. Teeth bit down on the fabric as well since he wasn't sure if he could fight off the sensation of the scream wanting to bubble out of his mouth.

His mind knew that Ace wasn't going to hurt him...not like that, after all if he was going to take advantage wouldn't he of done it that one night? NO NO! He couldn't think like that! But despite what his brain knew the body reacted on instinct and at the moment he was feeling incredibly threatened. Pinned the way he was with enough pressure that was preventing him from trying to squirm away. Oh he could do it if he really wanted to but it would involve hurting himself. Breath puffed out through his nostrils in a controlled rhythm but he couldn't restrain every aspect of his responses especially when he heard that animalistic growl so close to his ear. A strained sound gurgled in the back of his throat..some sort of strained whimper that was instantly cut off the moment Chad realized he was making the sound.

It was a combination of feeling that grasp against his wrist loosen and Dane's shocked words that finally prompted a response. Chad rolled, twisted in a manor that had to be painful considering how his body contorted but it was done with such fluidity that anyone could be fooled that the kid simply had no spine or something. Fingers curled into small fists as thin muscles coiled and arms struck out as swiftly as a cobra. Just because he wasn't muscle bound didn't mean that Chad didn't know where exactly to hit to create the most pain. One fist would find its way pushing against the muscles of the man's diaphragm at such an angle that it would cause a spazum to run through the fibers causing them to clench up and force breath from the red heads lungs..The other fist landed home with enough force that the metal teeth of the pants zipper bit into his knuckles causing the skin to rip and produce small bubbles of blood.. The boys legs pulled his body forward, sliding him between Ace's thighs as he dropped down against the floor only to twist around and land another well aimed bony punch against the back of the Italian's knee before he finally backed away.

He was standing almost perfectly still but the moment that summer meadow oculars met with ghostly orbs a faint shine of fear would be dominating the latter until finally Chad whirled around without another word and simply stomped his way out of the room..Unfortunately Dane was blocking his path..nothing that a well placed shove didn't handle allowing Chad to hurry down to his own room. Out..He needed to get out. He wasn't seeing the hardwood floors...the brick walls..the crimson warm colors...no he was seeing everything in dark blue and silver...thick carpets..heavy curtains..the sounds..They blended from his memory into what his ears were still hearing from Ace's TV.

Snarling Chad slammed his door shut and flipped the lock. Moving towards his dresser the kid started to tear through the drawers with shaking hands as he pulled out a pair of simple jeans and a long sleeved deep purple shirt. Angry harsh movements had him pulling the clothing up over his body as he muttered to himself. He couldn't go out the front door..Ace would try to stop him..someone would stop him. He felt trapped..cornered and that only seemed to stoke this unbearable rage even further to the point that a wordless snarl escaped his lips as he grabbed the coffee table and in one movement flipped it. The sounds of ceramic smashing filled the room scattering sharp shards across the floor as several of his ocarina's broke from the action.

Breathing heavily Chad glanced towards one of the windows and made a split decision. Grabbing his black beenie he pulled it over his head before he just glared at his Cipher wrist band. It quickly found itself being hurled through the room to slam against the wall before Chad twisted around and grabbed at his skateboard. Slamming his window open with enough force to make the panes rattle Chad would just sit on the ledge for a moment only to finally swing his legs around and fall from the second story. The impact with the ground was absorbed easily enough as his legs bent at the knee and he crouched down to the point that he was almost on his hands and knee's. Glancing up once Chad simply scoffed as he let his skateboard fall to the ground. Feet planted themselves on the wood before he pushed off, angling his route so he could quickly dip out of sight from the Mockingbird.

"What a cock sucking ass hole." The boy growled to himself as he glided along the side walk easily enough, hands patting the pockets of the simple black hoodie he had grabbed and found his cell phone and smokes in one pocket while his lighter rested in the other. Pulling out a cancer stick the kid shoved it into his mouth before setting fire to the other end and allow the rancid smoke to start filling his lungs as he inhaled and felt himself calming just from that and the soothing motions of keeping his balance on his board.

God, he felt like such an insensitive idiot. Why couldn't he have just stopped once Chad had lost his balance and ended it all with a reprimanding little tap to the back of the head?! Why did he have to follow through with a full fledged restraint?! As soon as that quiet little whimper bubbled up between strenuous breaths of that small body, everything that Ace knew to be right just told the hybrid to let go. All color drained from his face, lips slightly parted. Once the sound of Dane's words trickled over the other noises that filled the room, that head of red hair turned to glance over his shoulder at the other housemate. This really didn't look good... Hell, this really wasn't good... in any sense... and what ensued next , Ace deemed as completely justified.

Before he could even glance back down to that scar-mangled back he'd been looming over so threateningly, Chad's thin figure rolled in a fluid maneuver. It was like watching an alligator roll with its prey on one of those nature shows on TV... or like an Otter's submerged water acrobatics at the zoo... All those scars, rubbing against the texture of that comforter... man, that had to be uncomfortable, no matter how soft it was. Ace felt the kid turning between his knees, but did nothing to stop him, nor the punch that soon followed.

Golden-green eyes turned back just in time to watch the coiled fist find its home in the soft spot just below his sternum. Abdominal muscles flexed to full tension as the shock to his diaphram forced the air from his lungs. The tag and key on the chain around his neck rattled from the impact. Ace felt himself wanting to double over, while the rush of adrenaline which followed acted like bellows for the spark of his internal rage. Pupils dilated. He wanted to tear something apart... But no, he wouldn't act on that impulse. Not now. Not with Chad. Enough damage had been done already, and he HAD to practice self-restraint.... Just let it go, Ace.... let it go.

He tried to gasp for a breath, then bony knuckles connected again, this time with zipper and fabric while kinetic energy carried through to all of the fleshy, sensitive parts that lay beyond. Vision temporarily faded to black like he'd been given a hard reset. He couldn't breathe, no matter how much he tried, no amount of force could pull a breath into his clenched airways. Everything felt like it wanted to come out, but nothing would be going in. Ace let out a single, choked cough while lids pressed shut over pain-glazed summer meadow orbs. Bent legs trembled while the boy slid his thin body out from under him like some severely fucked up version of the Limbo. The hybrid's hands moved to cover his groin in a shielding gesture. As if Ace wasn't already on the verge of buckling over onto the bed, to top it all off, once the kid had slid out from under him, a final blow was landed against the back of one already unsteady knee.

That did him in. Down went Ace with eyes still firmly pressed shut, expression twisted into a grimace of pain. The side of his face was pushed into the comforter. One hand remained over that half-undone zipper while the other clutched with fingers contorted like claws at the deep red fabric. His stomach convulsed, but at least he could finally take in a sharp, yet shallow breath. Eyes fluttered open briefly to be met with the fear filled pools of lavender that were uniquely Chad's. Ace couldn't even tell which felt worse; the painful guilt in his mind, or the agony rattling through his organs. He felt ashamed... like he'd kicked a puppy into a trash compactor.

Chad then darted from the room. No need to shove Dane out of the doorway. The barkeep had taken a graceful step back to let the youth through, especially after that little display he had just witnessed. Those amber colored eyes were still wide with shock. What exactly had he just seen?? Did that really just happen??! The boy brushed past the dark-haired male who's puzzled gaze followed until Chad crossed the threshold of his own room and slammed the door shut. It was then that Dane, for the very first time, got a good glimpse of the canvas of damaged tissue that was Chad's back. The sight of it caused the half-Irishman to wince. No wonderthe kid always tried to keep it so well hidden from sight. Ace had talked about how badly Malkavich had mangled the youth, physically and emotionally...but he had no idea about the degree to which he had suffered disfigurement. Now he knew... Dane took a peek around the corner of the doorframe back into Ace's quarters, where the redhead had curled even further into the fetal position. Those fingers of his were still clawing at the comforter and each labored, shallow breath looked painful. The barkeep slipped into the room, both to check up on his friend and to make that damn porn flick stop broadcasting over the big screen TV. Fingers uncurled from the deep-red fabric as Ace heard Dane approach the bed. Golden green eyes parted just barely and that hand crept and lifted to point a wavering index finger toward the door, where a small trash can rested beside his dresser.

Ace could feel it with every convulsion of his stomach, every heave of a shallow breath... he was going to wretch. Dane followed the motion of his friend's guiding gesture with curious amber eyes. the Italian hybrid never spoke a single word, but the barkeep got the message none the less and retrieved the waste-bin instead of pausing that perverse soundtrack that persisted in the background. Slowly, Ace scooted himself to the edge of the mattress and snatched the trash can from Dane's grip the second it came within his reach. Digits coiled around the rim so tightly that knuckles turned a pale white.... and then they came.... the horrible dry-heaves... in heavy, painful, and rhythmic waves. Ace hadn't even put anything in his stomach yet, and still his body insisted it be purged. After a few laborious heaving cycles, the freelancer felt the bile splash the back of his tongue; bitter and burning. And while he heaved and wretched up that awful fluid, that man starring in the porn flick blew his load right upon the cleft of the collared girl's big, fake tits... It seemed that there was more than one meaning to the phrase 'simultaneous release'...

Dane's expression twisted into both disgust and concern. He really didn't like watching his childhood friend hack up yellow colored bodily fluids into a garbage can... but hey, there wasn't much he could do about it at this point. What in the hell had started all of this mess anyway, and what where those other loud noises that could now be heard from the room down the hall?! Ace wretched again, clearing the last of the substance from his system before a hoarse monstrosity of a voice growled into the trash recepticle, "God damn that dick-punching bastard son of Barney!" One last remnant of a dry-heave left Ace finally raising his head over the rim of the trash can, panting like a bitch in heat. Dane glanced down toward the redhead, his expression still retaining a certain amount both concern and surprise. "Well.... That bastard son of Barney just gave your dick a cobra-fisted Heimlich maneuver..." The ex-hitman shot the dark haired barkeep a rather unamused glare, spitting once in hopes to eject some of the horrid taste from his mouth before he growled once more with that deep and malicious tone of voice. "Fuck you..... Just get me some ice, will ya... and a drink, don't give a flying fuck what it is." And with that, the redhead finally put down the trashcan as he felt the pain begin to subside in those same rhythmic waves that had originally caused him to spew like a kid who had been on a merry-go-round for way too fucking long. With a fatigued arm, he shut the open laptop, and the digital moving frames vanished. The huge screen faded to black, and all sound in the room ceased. And that was when he finally heard it too. As he let his entire exhausted frame sink against the deep red sheets, the noises he heard through the thick brickwork caused his eyebrows to twitch a bit. The commotion didn't last long, however... and once again, everything was wrapped in a quietly humming, electric insect calm.

Dane didn't really blame the redhead for the harsh commands that were dealt, and took them with a grain of salt. After all, no guy on the planet was going to be very friendly after getting a punch to the groin. So he wandered downstairs and sifted through the freezer, knowing full well that while loose ice was abundant, actual ice-packs didn't exist at the Mockingbird. Maybe they should invest in some, if dick-punching was going to become a common occurrence. Instead of an ice-pack, the bearded bartender plucked out a bag of frozen carrots, which in his eyes, would do the trick just as well. The drink which Dane chose worthy of the occasion was a dark, stout, Irish import; one he knew Ace had enjoyed on previous occasions. On his way back to the redhead's room, beer in one hand, carrots in the other, he stopped quietly in front of Chad's door and listened intently for any sound. There was none. Swithcing the items around to free one hand, he tried the door knob only to find that it wouldn't turn. Chad had definitely locked it behind him. Dane was beginning to be stalked by the suspicion that the kid had definitely broken something... and he hoped more than anything that it wasn't the television.

By the time Dane had returned to Ace's room, the hybrid had managed to sit himself upright, both legs over the edge of the bed as he inspected the revolver for any signs of damage. He had a rather strange affinity for that firearm considering the strained relationship with the man who had gifted it to him. But that was neither here nor there. Ace layed the weapon down gently on the comforter beside him when he saw Dane's figure slip through the doorframe. "Here, catch! Sorry, closest thing we've got to an ice-pack." Summer-meadow orbs latched onto the square-shaped bag that was thrown toward him and his right hand raised reflexively to snatch it from the air. It was cold... so it would do. A short moment later the hybrid was lounged back, weight propped on both elbows, enjoying both the cooling effect of the frozen produce against aching reproductive organs as well as the smooth, choclaty flavor of the Irish beer. A lit cigarette rested between his lips. "Chad locked himself in his room... So.... how exactly did all of this get started?" The stern amber eyes of the barkeep rested on Ace while he stood beside the bed, arms covered by crimson fabric crossed over pectoral muscles. At that moment, Dane looked like a father, lecturing his son about a schoolyard brawl. It wasn't even a second later, as though the universe was a supreme master of fluid transitions, that both men heard the bathroom door open. All eyes instinctively darted toward the open bedroom door just as the familiar blonde head of Captain Matthews appeared around the frame as though right on cue. Enter stage right.

"Hey, what was all that commotion I heard a minute ago? The woman raised a cirious eyebrow and finally swung her whole body into the entryway of Ace's bedroom, one hand on hip in that manner women seem to do when they are in demand of answers. "And.... why do you have frozen carrots on your crotch?" Her pale blue eyes rested on the redhead, curious as a kitten. The white t-shirt that she had borrowed from Ace the previous night was clutched between her slender fingers, and Dane's eyes grew visibly wider and wider with each second that passed. The amber hues of the barkeep darted back and forth between Ace and Carmon, until he finally raised a hand with an extended index finger at the woman while sporting a dismal expression of utter confusion. "Wait a minute... what is SHE doing here?! Dane's cheeks began to glow a barely visible shade of pink. The half-irish barkeep was quite well aware that there had been someone sleeping in Ace's bed alongside of the redhead... but never in his right mind would Dane have thought that it had been the Captain of Cipher Corps. Well, this was certainly awkward. With that finger pointed toward her in an almost accusatory gesture, the Captain's cheeks also became slightly flushed, though being the woman she was, she pushed herself past it and stepped even further into the room. Her fingers curled around that white, soft fabric even tighter.

Ace released an audible sigh of annoyance. If he'd had a free hand, he would have probably buried his face in it right about now. This was some tangled mess all right. Finally, he took a deep drag from his cigarette and focused a stern golden green glare on both Dane and Carmon. "Okay, listen." He began by saying as he exhaled a trail of smoke between his lips. "Chad and I just had a little disagreement, that's all." Dane decided to chime in at this point while he shoved both of his thumbs into the pockets of his black slacks. "Disagreement my ass! Chad dick-punched him so hard he threw up... kid's got some fast moves... that shit was crazy." Those amber eyes of the barkeep shifted over to the blonde female momentarily, before they darted back to Ace when the redhead's voice growled through the open space of the brick acoustics. "Thank you, Dane..." The words carried obvious sarcasm, and were accompanied by an equally unamused glare of fierce golden green. Upon hearing these news, Carmon took another step forward, ocean blue gaze riddled with concern while she eyed that ornate, large caliber revolver that rested beside the hot-tempered redhead. "You two had a fight? About what? Is he okay?" Carmon knew full well the extent of Ace's violent tendencies, but surely he'd never really cause the boy any physical harm, right? The ex-hitman couldn't help but to lift a curious pierced eyebrow at the woman's inquiries. Lids narrowed the slightest amount, not in irritation, but with piqued curiosity. "The way you prioritize your concerns worries me a little bit, Captain..." The hybrid took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled before he continued his train of thought. "...But yeah, he's fine. I didn't hurt him or anything." The tobacco cylinder was plucked from his lips only for the rim of the beer bottle to take its place. "Okay, so about ten minutes ago or so, he comes barging into my room in his underwear, clocks me right in the back of the neck, and stars going on some tirade about how big of an asshole I am." Summer meadow hues now focused solely on the blonde female figure. "I had no fucking idea that you were still here, but he apparently thought that him walking in you accidentally in the bathroom was all just some kind of prank that I had set up. So he starts to come at me, like he's gonna strangle me or something... but I'm ready for it this time, so I grabbed him by the arm and pinned him down face-first on the bed." Well, that was the story, wasn't it? As good as any confession.

Captain Matthews allowed her focus to rest on Ace as he spoke, though then they drifted to search Dane's face until it eventually came full circle to rest on the redhead's golden-green oculars again at last. The hand which gripped the white cotton shirt now also lifted to find a resting place against her hip. "You restrained him.... So what?" She replied with her head tilted slightly to the side while facial features were drawn into an expression that suggested confusion. With one final drag, Ace sat up slightly and snuffed out the spent cigarette in the nearest ashtray on his bedside table, setting the half empty bottle of beer down right beside it. As he exhaled the cancerous fumes, the hybrid reclined again, this time completely onto his back with fingers of both hands interlaced behind his head. Lids fell shut over golden green eyes in a way that suggested he was either trying to relax or gather up his thoughts. Perhaps both. "Yeah, that's what I thought too.... but unfortunately it's not as simple as that." His voice was a calm and cold as ever, yet it bore that imminent, dangerous resonance of the dormant embers of fury which he harbored within him. Dane at that point decided that it would be wisest to take a seat on the black microsuede cushions of the couch. The way his friend was speaking, a flood of words were about to come. Carmon took the hint as well and leaned her slender figure against the armrest of that couch. All eyes were focused on the Italian hybrid. He then took center stage.

For the next ten minutes or so, Ace summarized the tale of how Chad had looked when the two of them had first crossed paths. How he'd been bruised, malnourished, and half frozen wandering the streets. After Ace had offered him that job to gather various bits of information about the business at Quail Meadows, the kid had returned to him looking even more dreadful than before. The hybrid went into graphic detail about just how Chad had come to acquire that nasty scar around his wrist; about how the youth had been cornered by Malkavich's lackeys who proceeded to restrain him in the worst ways possible before they proceeded to beat, then rape, then beat again in a viciously violent cycle of rinse and repeat. By the time Ace came to the closure of this gruesomely true tale, Carmon's eyes were welling with hints of moisture. Feminine fingers wrung around that white cotton t-shirt she still clung to like it was her saving grace. The woman had read through Chad's files at great lengths when she had tried to help him regain his freedom while the youth was trapped between life and death in the hospital. But these had been nasty little details to which only Ace had been privy to. It was shocking. Dane too had a rather distraught expression painted on his face. With this story, the hybrid had shed an wholly different light on a side of the teenager that neither of them could have ever fathomed.

"So, all of that, mixed with the powerful pain meds he's been taking for his back injuries, coupled with teenage hormones.... it's no wonder, really." Carmon's face looked genuinely sympathetic as those last words slipped from between the freelancer's lips, and in response, the woman responded with a hushed: "Jesus... I had no idea..." before she lifted one hand to dab at the moisture that clung to her lashes. Ace never moved from the position in which he lay, and his voice remained unchanged when he spoke again. "Yeah... and I'm a huge fuck-up..." A deep sigh escaped him. "I just wanna forget all that shit I was taught growing up. Maybe then I'd be more cut out for this..." The next voice which interjected was Dane's. Gentle and calm, it still bore a sense of genuine confidence. "Don't say that nonsense." At the sound of that familiar voice, lids parted slightly over Ace's summer meadow hues and the hybrid tilted his head slightly until his childhood friend came into view. "Hmm?" The freelancer's eyebrow twitched slightly. "What you know doesn't dictate who you are, Ace. The beareded barkeep began by saying. "Who you are is what you choose to do with the things that you know... And those things might save your life someday.... Or mine..... Or her's... They've already saved Chad's."

Ace didn't respond. He simply let his lids fall shut again and scoffed while his face turned back toward the ceiling. If only they knew the vivid play of his nightly terrors. He wanted to turn the topic of conversation somewhere different, and so he did. "Speaking of... He got us a new lead on that assignment." Upon hearing those words, Captain Matthews seemed to perk up a bit. "What? Already?" She bought the bait. Good.... now to reel her in and bury the previous topic. "Yeah, figured that all the missing girls, including our Alice Greene, were in an area of town notorious for illicit parties just days before they disappeared. Now all we need is a date and time and hopefully we'll find some answers while we're there." The blonde woman pushed her form from the resting position against the armrest of the couch, straightened her posture, and smiled. It appeared that the news had managed to lighten her mood and serve as a distraction from the morbid subject of Chad's disturbing history with Malkavich. "Well, that's great news! Guess I should go say thanks, and apologize for this whole misunderstanding while I'm at it..." With those words, the captain began to turn and make her journey toward the exit, but with eyes still lidded, the freelancer's next words caused her to stop abruptly. "Don't bother... Five bucks says he's already gone..."

The blonde haired woman spun around, a pale eyebrow raised as she shot a puzzled glance toward the bartender. Dane returned that gaze with an expression that mimicked hers. It was the barkeep who responded. "What do you mean, gone? I watched him lock himself into his room!" Ace couldn't help but chuckle, despite the fact that it caused the muscles and connective tissue around his solar plexus to surge with residual pain. "Well, lets find out then. You have the master keys to the whole place, don't you?" The hybrid turned his head and parted lids over golden green eyes to focus on that face framed by dark hair once again before he continued. "...Unless you just want me to break open the door..." Ace flashed the barkeep a mischievous smirk while the other's expression suggested that he wasn't all too thrilled about the idea of any more things being broken. "I'll get the keys." With a residual smirk, Ace sat up, sore in parts he knew he shouldn't be, and sat aside the partially defrosted carrots in order to follow Dane and Carmon out into the hallway. Obvious discomfort was present in the hybrid's face. The barkeep swept in and out of his room in less than a minute, swiping the keys as well as his black flat-cap hat from his dresser. Since his hair was fully dried now, Dane placed the accessory on top of his head and adjusted it prior to slipping the proper key into the lock of Chad's door. An audible gasp of horror sprung from the bearded man when he stepped into the room. Ace and Carmon stepped in behind him, watching Dane's expression grow more and more dire as they all regarded the scattered mess of clay across the hardwood floor. The first to speak up was the hybrid, who's nonchalant gaze held little emotion despite the myriad of thoughts that raced through his mind. "You owe me five bucks..."

Dane's amber gaze shifted over every stick of furniture that occupied the room until they settled on the open window, to which his feet carried him with feline speed. In fact once he reached it, Dane pressed both palms onto the window sill and leaned half way out, looking down onto the sidewalk below. "What the hell?! No way! I don't believe it!" Ace's eyes studied the contours and landscapes of Chad's room, taking in every bit of detail he could.... the flipped table, the shattered clay which must surely have been those instruments so very dear to the youth...and then he saw it, that discarded Cipher ID bracelet which he swiftly gathered up in loosely coiled fingers. 'Shit'... he thought to himself before looking back to Dane. "Well, believe it or not.... but you still owe me five bucks, man." The dark haired male, at that point, pivoted his body enough to look directly at the redhead. Question and concern both twisted his expression. "You gonna go after him?" The question caused both Carmon's and Ace's attention to snap to peak performance, though it were the eyelids of the redhead which narrowed just before he cast his gaze away. "Nah... He needs his space. I'm probably the last person he wants to see right now... Even though the fact he left this has me a little worried." Fingers uncurled around the leather band with the metal tag as he held it out toward Dane.

Despite the circumstances, Captain Matthews stepped up behind the freelancer and lay a comforting hand on Ace's shoulder. "Hey, let me worry about Chad... Right now, I want you to get a head start on that whole 'rave' business. Report back to me when you find something. I'll take care of the rest." She released her touch, which strangely enough reminded her of something.... like some strange sense of deja-vu. At her demand, Ace simply scowled and turned his body toward her with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. "What? Right now? Seriously?!" Both auburn eyebrows were raised like he had just been deeply offended. "Woman, my junk feels like it just went on a date with a lead meat tenderizer....and you want me to go for a hike through the toxic-waste part of town??" In response to the freelancer's sad attempt at a protest, the captain only shot him that glare... that look which was always a clear indication of just how very serious she was in the instructions she had given. Ace sighed a deep sigh of vexation, sending a sideways glare into empty space accompanied by a quiet grumble. "All right...fine... Let me go take a leak and get changed." The redhead had already turned toward the doorway when he head the distinct voice of Dane at his back. "Wait a minute. I gotta clean up this mess all by myself?" The Italian hybrid stopped in his tracks within the threshold of the doorway and turned his head just enough to see his dark haired friend over the crest of his shoulder. "Just leave it. He probably wouldn't want us messing with it anyway." Dane didn't really like that answer either, so with a bit of a grumble to himself, he at least moved the flipped coffee table back to its upright position. "And you still haven't told me why the Captain stayed the night...with you no less..." Hmm, so Dane was actually aware that she had slept in Ace's bedroom... this was an interesting bit of information, though for the time being, the freelancer simply donned a smirk and walked away. "I'll leave her to explain that one to ya..." That distinctive voice echoed through the hallway before his form vanished into the confines of the bathroom.
For the next several moments, Dane and Carmon exchanged glances of sheer awkwardness. The woman's cheeks flushed again before she brought up a hand to rub nervously at the back of her neck. Shortly thereafter, she managed to produce a laugh of embarrassment. "Uummm....ya know what, I really need to get some fresh air.... I'll be back later..." And with those words, Carmon darted from the room as quickly as she possibly could. Dane meanwhile was left with the most perturbed expression decorating unique features. Honestly, he thought to himself, if she and Ace were having 'relations' of sorts, there really wasn't any need to be so secretive about it all. The barkeep, however, found himself plagued by a faint scratch of disappointment he hadn't quite expected as he straightened the youth's mess of a room a bit more. The blonde woman whom Ace worked for was quite attractive; Dane had always thought so, and even toyed with the idea of asking her out on a date. He knew now that he should probably abandon those prospects, or risk the possibility of stepping on Ace's toes. Oh well, no big deal. Dane didn't touch the shards of shattered clay on the floor, nor the mess of scattered sheet music. The window was left open, the bed was made neatly, and when he finally got to emptying the trash can, he couldn't help but blurt out a rushed "Why the hell's everybody gotta puke in the fucking trash cans today?!" The bearded man sighed to himself and rubbed at his temples. Once the plastic bag was removed, he carried it downstairs, to dispose of it in the kitchen trash. After that, Dane was finally free to return to his spiked morning coffee... which was now cold. Resuming his previous seat at the bar, he lit up a cigarette and drank the cold liquid from the mug anyway. No fucks were given.

The mercenary military captain's mind was still reeling with the horror stories she had been told... not to mention that Dane had dropped the line of having seen her waking up in Ace's bed. So much for subtlety. Ugh, this day wasn't starting well, but at least they had gotten a new lead on the disappearance of Alice Greene... thanks to Chad, who was now M.I.A. With her head still pounding from the hangover, she had stepped outside to get some fresh air, and make a phone call that she wasn't sure would even go through. The kid was short tempered, independent, and stubborn as Ace, from the stories Dane had told her anyway... so, would he even answer when she called? It was worth a shot. Besides, she really wanted to apologize for all of the upheaval that happened on her behalf. If the youth, in fact, did answer.

Chad found himself relaxing as much as he could, mentally picking through different thoughts that were cluttering his mind as he lay back against the soft grass of the park. It was an area he used to come to a lot a few years ago before cops really started to crack down on panhandling in the area. His skateboard rested along side him while hands tucked behind his head. Those unique colored eye's gazed upwards at the fluffy clouds that dotted and broke up the vast plain of blue. Oh sure he looked calm and relaxed but truth be told Chad was still having issues trying to sooth his brain out. Stress..he was blaming it all on stress. It had to be, there shouldn't of been any other reason why he acted the way he had. He had been striking out more physically of late..and those teasing words were taking more of a scathing tone towards Dane. Which wasn't fair to the barkeep...he would have to appoligize..and Hitting Ace the way he had..well..maybe he'd appoligize for that one. Huffing the youth's attention was drawn to his pocket when he felt it vibrating. Swiftly pulling it out he focused his eye's on the screan, finger ready to ignore the call if it came from either Dane or Ace. What surprised him was the fact that it was a number he didn't recognize. Quirking an eyebrow the male finally flipped the answer selection before lifting the device to his gaged ear. The voice at the other end surprised him even further.

The voice on the other end was quiet and calm as well as decidingly female "Hey, I'm sorry about what happened.... can we talk?" Despite the fact that Chad was technically working for her... well for Ace, who was working for her, the Cipher Captain wasn't commanding or acting as a superior figure from what Chad could tell by the tone of her voice. "Captain?" Pushing himself up so he was sitting Chad gazed across the expanse of the park "What? Oh..uh..you don't need to say sorry or nothing..just..um..well a miss understanding..lack of information I guess." A hand lifted to rub nervously across the back of his neck especially when the woman asked if the two of them could talk. "I suppose so. You know that park over off of seventh and devision? Sorry I just don't talk well on phones.." Or in general. What in the world would the Captain want to talk to him about? Probably to dress him down for his behavior. Well it wasn't as if he didn't deserve it for how he acted earlier.

"Yeeah... I think that's an understatement..." The sound of her throat being cleared echoed over the phone line before she continuted on. "I know where that is, I'll be there in just a few." With that said Carmon would pull the phone away from her hear in order to hang up but ended up hesitating for just a moment before speaking once more. "Oh hey...Great job with the new lead by the way...But we can talk about that later. I'll see you soon" Ghostly orbs blinked several times as he caught the compliment that echoed through his end of the phone before the call was cut off. Well..THat was certaintly unexpected but at the same time it was enough to cause the corner of his lip to lift..curling upwards in a half a smile. Maybe talking with Carmon wouldn't be so weird after all. Hmming to himself the youth slid his phone back into his pocket as he contented himself to wait.

Carmon on the other hand had breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the young male had not only picked up but accepted her proposal. She had seen the discarded ID bracelet inside of his rather disheveled room, and had shared in Ace's concern that he might have discarded the phone someplace as well. Once she'd heard Chad's voice, listened to each word, she chuckled almost nervously, rubbing her free hand across the back of her neck in a fashion that mimiced his during their call but the first step had been made and with that in mind, she smiled her soft and gentle little smile that played in the corners of her lips like a soothing tune. Now... where were her car keys... Oh god... did she leave them in the egnition of her car last night?! She couldn't help but grimace at the thought of it. Carmon was SO not dressed for this at all... she was still wearing that pencil skirt and the deep red shirt with the back made of lace... not like she had anything else to wear. The high-heels were elegant evening shoes... nothing at should be worn to a park... but hell, she really didn't even care anymore at this point.

Carmon rounded the corner to where she had parked behind Ace's classic. Low and behold, the keys were still in the egnition, luckily the car doors hadn't locked. The blonde woman opened the door, scooted into the driver's seat, and took off toward her destination. It wasn't too far, maybe 6 or 7 blocks a best. It was a lovely day for being in the park, especially since everything still smelled fresh and clean from last night's rain. The deep silver BMW was parked in the appropriate area, and once the woman stepped out of the car, she began to let those pale blue eyes of hers dart about in hopes of finding the silver-haired youth. Christ, she knew she stuck out like a sore thumb.... and she had just abandoned the Mockingbird at the drop of a hat... Would Ace call her to see where she was? Nah, probably not. She had gone ahead and sent the redhead out to scout that area of town for any clues or words regarding that warehouse and the Raves which took place within. He'd probably be busy for the next couple of hours.

Pale eyes scanned over the scenery until she spotted something that looked familiar... a small frame, lying in a patch of grass bearing a black beanie, and thus, she approached. Hearing foot steps would cause Chad's eye's to shift, trailing off to the side before he spotted Carmon and the rather...odd clothing. A single eyebrow raised before he offered a pleasent enough smile. The blond woman would find him much in the same position he had been retaining, uncaring of the damp grass under his body as he lay out across it. One leg bent partially at the knee while the other was folded and tucked under it. Well...This was a little awkward... she wasn't used to seeing Chad while she was out of uniform... and even less so when he wasn't in the company of the italian hybrid. "Hey there... Hope you don't mind the casual dress.... I didn't really have anything else." She'd say once she had closed the distance between them. Despite the fact that Chad might have looked outwardly relaxed, laying back against the lush greens under a thin canopy of sparse trees, Carmon could tell that there was tension beyond those exotic eyes of his.

"I don't mind...you can sit on this if you don't want to get that skirt dirty." He'd use his head to motion towards the skateboard at his side. Chad couldn't help but inspect the woman in front of him, having only ever seen her in uniform the fact that she was dressed so nicely caught him off guard. She really was a pretty woman wasn't she? "So..what can I do for ya Captain, was there something specific you needed?"

Carmon was almost slightly caught off guard when the thin-bodied young male offered her a place to sit. Hell, she really didn't even know that Chad could skateboard.... That just went to show how little she had known about him outside from all of those personal records. But what had her impressed the most was the sheer fact that Chad was courteous enough to do so... to offer such an option. Wow.... so the kid really had manners after all. "Thanks." She took the offer warmly, though at this point with the hangover she sported, the skirt was the least of her worries. Carmon lowered herself onto the rough surface of the skateboard and allowed herself a moment to glance over the youth before she replied to his inquiry. Fingers of both hands interlaced as they rested on her thighs, as eyes so blue and perfect like Caribbean jewels focused on ghostly lavenders. "No... I don't need anything, really. But... " Her voice cut off for a moment as she studied that face of his, the scar that decorated the kid's left eye... Ace had given Malkavich one to match. The whole thing made so much more sense to her now.

When she finally continued her train of thought, she allowed her teeth to bite at her bottom lip pensively. She was thinking hard about her next choice of words. "...I feel like I owe you an apology... because if it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have gotten into that fight with Ace... " A deep sigh brushed past her plumped lips and fingers lifted to rub at her temples. "Truth is, I ended up there because I was upset about my personal life... I drank too much and Ace was nice enough to offer me a place to stay in the middle of the night." Fingertips danced across her eyebrows, then to her right temple. "He told me what happened to you. What that bastard did.... There is no way to make that right... Ever."

Carmon sighed heavily again and allowed her fingers to interlace upon her thighs once more. God, she was on the verge of tears again. "He cares about you though...Ace, I mean. He's changed since he's met you. So much... He's never put his life on the line for anyone else before... You two are so similar, but have lived such different lives, it almost drives me crazy to see you two fight." The points of her eyebrows turned upward in an almost desperate, pleading manner while she peered down at the young male, one thumb brushing idly against the skin of the opposing hand.

Chad remained quiet as he lay there, hands laced behind his head while Carmon spoke though when she revealed that Ace had spilled about certain aspects of his life a muscle twitched in his cheek. The only signal that he had clenched his jaw only to have a heavy sigh follow it. Pulling his hands out from behind his head the kid would level himself back up so he was sitting, legs crossing comfrotably in front of him as hands rested against his ankles. "It wasn't his right to tell you that, any of that but whats done is done." Chad would rub at his wrist for a moment, staring off at the other individuals who were walking through the park..concentraing particularly on a small family he had spotted earlier with two children.

It didn't escape Carmons notice what he was doing as she kept herself perched on his skateboard. "Can I see it? Your wrist I mean." Those lavender hue's would migrate back towards his commanding officer, simply staring at her for several moments before finally he would hold out his hand without comment. He watched silently as her own hands reached out so that slender fingers could carefully grasp his hand, turning it this way and that as she inspected the puckered flesh. It was ugly, to him anyways, and obviously it would of been increadibly painful. Even more so since Ace had indulged the way it had become infected since he had been the one to clean it.

Carmon uttered a gentle sigh before releasing his hand from hers. "I'm not particularly religious but my grandmother used to always say that God gave every man and woman their fair share of bad luck. I think I used to believe that to be true until I met you." Chad would simply raise his eyebrows before shoulders shrugged and his attention once more drifted out over the soft green grass to watch that small family again. Observing how the three children ran after one another with laughter on their lips. "I've never been religious, no point in it in my oppinion." What else should he of said to that sort of statement? The simple fact that Carmon was even here to talk to him was somewhat unnerving to him. Adults confused the hell out of the seventeen year old, their actions never made sense to him so this little talk most definatly wasn't adding up in his mind.

The silence continued for some time causing Carmon to believe that she was going to have to manhandle a delicate conversation. The last action she wanted to take considering what sort of results that produced. But it seemed though that Chad had only been trying to figure out how exactly to express what was on his mind. "I don't do well being around people. Its hard for me to trust anyone and even harder to respect them. I'm not used to the treatment I've been getting and I keep expecting this to be some sort of dream..a dream that I'm going to wake up from at any minute." Hands came up to rub almost visiously at a face that was showing just how stressed he was. "There's a sensation...an almost mental voice that keeps telling me not to get comfortable..not to settle in to much. That it's all going to change any minute and I'll go right back to the life I had before. This life..what Ace, you and Dane offer me...I'm not used to it and I'm scared to hold on to it to tightly."

Carmon kept quiet as she sat there, knowing that if she interupted now then she would never hear the rest of what was stewing in the youths mind. "I feel as if...as if I'm going to screw it up. I'm going to ruin everything that's been given to me because I don't know what to do with it. Disappointing or fighting with Ace is the last thing I want to do considering everything he's done for me." Fingers started to trace the scar around his wrist once more. "He's saved my life three times. I might of frozen to death this last winter..it was so cold...He hunted me down when I ran like a coward, like a whipped dog, from my problems. I was content to die you know...All I wanted was just to give it all up and I was ready to do it." Carmons breath hitched at the new knowledge. She hadn't known that, hadn't even begun to fathom the reason. She had been led to believe that Chad had simply been hiding for safty...not that he had squirrled himself away to die.

"Then yesterday..It wasn't his fault he didn't know I couldn't swim. Malkavich never inspired the same fear I felt then, knowing what was going to happen. He didn't think twice though, just jumped right in and got me out. I owe him more than just my life..I owe him everything and I treat him like this. I'm the worst kind of friend." Chad's head dropped physically expressing the shame he felt with his actions today. "I hate being treated like a kid...but that's exactly how I acted today. I didn't think before I acted but I couldn't help myself. Being held like that, it triggered something in me. This...this fear, this monster just waiting to devour me if I let my guard down for one minute." A hard shake of his head was given before soul weary eye's directed back onto the captains own sapphire blue oculars. "I wouldn't blame him for being angry with me for what I did. I should of just told him to stop...hell it wouldn't of even happened if I had been able to keep my temper better. "

Chad always prided himself on other treating him like an adult..but right now..right now he felt anything but that. He felt small and insugnificant, like a toddler almost. He had once said that his life had been broken leaving him to pick up the pieces. But the puzzle that he was left to fit his world back into was confusing and unfamilar to him now. It was obvious how much he was floundering in trying to find stable footing. To much had happened in to short of time for him to grasp onto an anchor. That drowning sensation was swallowing him whole causing him to panic, to react on instincts that had allowed him to live this long. What he couldn't do was control it, to tamper it down with the knowledge that it wasn't needed anymore. At least not as far as these people were concerned. But as its always been said, old habits die hard.

Carmon's gaze wandered along the varying hues of greens and blues and specks of random color within the environment. Every word the youth spoke had her full attention although she might have looked as though she zoned out for a second. It seemed that she was being granted insight on a lot of new information concerning those two misfits of hers today. It was a lot of information to process., and yet, it made her feel closer to both of them. The woman had seen the way in which Chad had that little wandering family as they played with their two children on the field of green. Those little hints of longing and nostalgia beyond those ghostly were undeniable and didn't go unnoticed. In fact, Carmon shared quite similar sentiments. that feeling of unity, comfort, trust, and sense of belonging that came with having a strong-bonded family was something the woman deeply desired. Sure, she was the head of an advanced military organization, the people of which looked uo to her for support and guidance... yet it lacked the intimate warmth for which she yearned. Everyone had always told her that she was entirely too immersed with her job to ever be a successful parent, or marriage partner for that matter. At this point, considering recent matters in her private life, she was beginning to think that was true. Not like she'd even been able to find a suitable enough male counterpart thus far anyway... and she wasn't so sure if that day would ever come.

The young male's unique voice had produced a myriad of words... Confessions, truths, and genuine emotion. Despite what he had said about the trouble he had with trusting others, Chad had none the less confided in the captain, and had at least taken this opportunity to rid his conscience of several pests. The last sentence out of Chad's mouth caused her gaze to shift back to him; to those lavender, phantom hues. Lids blinked slowly over ocean blue pools that were made even brighter by the glistening sparkle of the ambient light. As an ever so gentle smile softened her features, and a soft breath of a breeze swayed pale bangs across her brow, she stretched the arm nearest to Chad in order to place splayed out fingers gently onto the youth's shoulder. "It's strange that you say that..." She began by saying. "Because he was saying almost the exact same things right before I left...was beating himself up for what he did.... I've never seen him act like that before. Not in the two years I've known him anyway." Her head tilted to the side the slighted degree, that smile of hers widening a little before she removed her hand from the bony shoulder only to let it find a new resting place at the crown of Chad's head. She allowed the palm of her hand to stroke across the black fabric of the beanie once or twice before she continued on with her train of thought. "He's not angry with you. And you aren't a bad friend by any means... you're just out of your element... both of you are." the feminine hand slid from the boy's head, and with both elbows resting on her thighs, she supported her chin in the palms of her hands. Pale blue eyes shifted to look back at the various bodies that occipied the field of green.

This time, they came to rest on a young couple walking their pair of border collies. Yep, her head definitely hurt, but she was actually enjoying this one-on-one time with Chad. "It's like taking two dogs; one that's lived to do nothing but fight in a cage its whole life, and another that's done nothing but fight for its life to avoid being caged... and then putting them in a normal, what can be considered 'healthy' environment. I think you're both going through a huge phase of change.... rehabilitation maybe.... it just takes time." She finally turned her head back toward Chad before she realized what she had just said. A hand moved to rub at the back of her neck again while her lips parted in an embarrassed smile. "Not that I think you two are dogs or anything... Man, that was a really shitty metaphor, wasn't it?" She really needed to avoid idle talk while she was hungover, that was for sure.

Lavender eye's continued to take in the view of the family across the green before he felt something against his shoulder which caused him to flinch lightly. Shifting those oculars over to his shoulder he gazed at the hand settled there before looking at Carmons face. That apathetic expression dominated his facial features for several moments before eye's widened ever so slightly an a single eyebrow lifted at the knowledge that Ace had been 'beating himself up' over what had happened. When the womans hand shifted upwards towards his head the youths cheeks started to tint slightly thanks to the blood rushing up to settle just under his cheeks.

Funny thing though was the simple fact that he didn't pull away from the touch and in fact it even seemed as if he were leaning into it. Gods when was it that he had been touched like this...in a manner that was acceptiable and not one which instantly caused his skin to crawl. The longer he sat there just staring at the woman the more his mind started to overlap another face onto Carmons. It was strangly odd just how much he was being reminded of his mother in a fashion that didn't instnatly cause his heart to start aching. When she pulled her hand away and sheepishly try to appoligize Chad could only do one thing..Slowly lips began to curl up from the corners until a genuine smile was shinning towards the female.

A chuckle was given before he pushed himself up onto his feet. Brushing off the back of his jeans he would turn to face Carmon fully and offer his hand out towards her. "Naw..I think its a pretty apt comparison. Though honestly, I see Ace as more of a wolf maybe. Come on I think I have a pretty good idea how to approch this mission of yours." Wait..Was Chad actually trying to spend more time with the woman?! Well why not? Carmon actually was somewhat enjoyable when Ace wasn't around to push her buttons. Plus he would appreciate a second oppinion considering how little he actually went shopping.

Once he helped her to her feet Chad would tap his foot against the board Carmon had just been sitting on. The action causing it to pop up on its back wheels before the kid grabbed it. Tucking his mode of transportation under his arm he'd wait for her to lead them both back to the vehicle. "The way I'm thinking is that we're going to have to get inside one of these raves." Carmon glanced over at Chad as she slipped into her car, inserting the key's in the ignition "That's actually a rather good idea but I can't help but think this one will be a bit more difficult than what your making it sound."

Chad fiddled with his seat for a few moments before finally getting a comfortable lay to the angle. Lifting his hands to tuck behind his head as he gave directions to a specilty store that he knew of. "Nothings ever as easy as it sounds." It was all he would say on the matter for the time being as the two drove along in relitive silence. It would take about twenty minutes thanks to traffic being a bit heavier than normal and some rather annoying construction but eventually the two would arrive at a store bearing the name Grungy Threds. Carmon was rather unsure of the buisness as she cast a skeptical gaze over at Chad. The youth would just smirk as he swept his hand towards the store and began to head for the black door "Its a theme shop. Basicly the best place to get your party gear, fucked up clothes and what not. Personally I've never really shopped here but I've heard things about it so I figured it would be the best place to get the outfits."

Slipping inside would cause both of their ears to be filled with the soft roar of heavy metal blaring over the speakers. This most definatly was not a store that Carmon would of ever been associated with before this. "So...you think you'll be able to find what exactly?" Chad glanced over his shoulder since he had moved up to a clothing wrack and had begun to flip through some of the selection "I think I'll be able to find something that'll help Ace and myself blend in with the crowd. Granted most Ravers are so hopped up they don't notice much but what they will notice is someone who doesn't look like them." Grabbting something from the clothing rack Chad would gaze at the burnt orange top decorated with several criss crossing straps hemmed in black and silver. The color was gaudy as all hell but Chad was looking at it in a different light having previous experiance with these sorts of things.

Carmon, while listening to everything Chad was saying, had her attention caught by something increadibly bright and beyond what ever she had seen before. Leaving Chad's side she would approch the neon colored item. Slowly reaching out for it the woman would let her fingers brush across the material before an idea caught her thoughts up, causing her to glance back over to the small male behind her who was starting to riffle through pants. "Chad...do you have any plans on how exactly you're going to find out where these girls are?"

Slender shoulders rose and fell in a shrug "Not exactly no. I haven't exactly talked this over with Ace yet." A slight grimice was given over the mention of having to talk to Ace. It was unavoidable and it would need to be done though it didn't exactly mean he was looking forward to it. Bright green caught his eye as his fingers slid across a pair of pants sporting a biohazard symbol on it. That was the great thing about Raves, you really didn't have to match, your clothing was a statement in and of itself. "...Chad..." Huffing the young male turned around to look at Carmon when she uttered his name again "What?"

The Captian was sporting a rather large smile...almost a shit eating grin if Chad knew any better. It instantly had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "...What ever your thinking I'm not going to like it am I?" Carmons grin only grew larger as she pointed to what had caught her eye...a neon colored wig sporting thick and thin dreads...and large fluffy cat ears. "You know I always wanted to have a girls shopping trip" One could say that a whimper came from between Chad's lips at that point as the realization of what Carmon wanted to do sunk in...but that piece of knowledge would forever be lost thanks to the ear piercing screaching of the talentless screaming heavy metal artist vibrating the stores P.A system.

Carmon couldn't help but let out a playful chuckle while her eyes played leap-frog between the colorful wig of dreadfalls and cat ears, and Chad's distraught facial expression. It really seemed that she wasn't at all the cold and focused person she normally was while wearing her uniform. This demeanor made it especially difficult to tell whether or not she was joking with the youth at that point in time. Perhaps at first she had been, but when the mental fog of the hangover lifted in a moment of clarity, she saw the solution to their little conundrum right in front of her eyes; clear as crystal. Granted, it wasn't a completely matured plan just yet, but she was more than willing to run with it, improvise, and flesh it out along the way.... and no... Chad wasn't going to like this plan one bit, although he'd find himself playing a very crucial role in it soon enough.

"I think this might be our only chance, Chad; as much as you're going to hate me for it. It's a solid plan, and you're the only person I know who can actually pull it off." That grin of hers faded to a gentle smile while she tightened the grip of her fingers on that piece of eccentric head-wear. Her eyes were locked to the young male who was still holding on to those 'biohazard' pants he'd taken from the rack. "I know you can do this. The person we're looking for is targeting adolescent females, so what makes you think that you'd even be able to get close enough for them to give you the time-of-day?" She moved her free hand to rest on the side of her hip. "You're the perfect age, the perfect size, and posing as a girl would be the perfect disguise to at least get their attention." Those ocean blues peered at him with genuine respect, hinting at the amount of faith she seemed to have in the kid.

"I don't really like the prospect of putting you out there as bait, but I can't very well do it myself...otherwise I would... I doubt I'd pass for a teenager even in this kind of crazy getup." Carmon chuckled a little and placed the raver wig onto her head before she flicked one of the dreads out of her face. "See? Definitely not happening for me." The cacophony of screaming and hurried electric guitar chords served as a painful reminder that she still had a headache, though luckily it was beginning to recede. Watching Chad standing there with those over-sized, black and neon green, biohazard pants in his bony little hands, she wondered briefly how Ace might be doing. Was he having any luck finding the necessary information? Was he still in pain?... Not like the woman knew what it felt like to get knocked in the junk.

Her train of thought derailed when she spotted an item that another customer had been blocking from her view. She swapped the unique cat-ears and dreads from her own head over to Chad's before she darted across the store. "Look at this! It's suck a pretty color! It would look perfect with your eyes!" Carmon snagged the top from the rack and returned to the adolescent with that distinguishing scar-streaked left eye. The top was sleeveless and black, resembling more or less a vest. It sported a zipper that divided the front, pockets, and a bright, neon turquoise fur collar. Carmon appeared to be very enthusiastic about this article of clothing as she held it out in front of her in order to gauge what it might look like on the boy. Why on earth was she so exuberant about picking out girl's clothes to put on a guy?? Who could say, really... But for now, this little shopping excursion was helping to keep her mind from lingering on both the hurtful and also strange events of the previous evening.

She had to be joking...seriously this had to be a prank of some sort right? Standing there with an almost shell shocked expression on his face Chad shifted the outfit he had picked out for Ace onto his other arm before pointing at the wig. "Wait a minute...you want me to wear that? Carmon that's for a girl you know that right?" Maybe the woman had just been confused, after all she didn't seem the type to have experiance in this sort of department after all. An honest mistake really...right?.....Right?!

"I think this might be our only chance..." Oh god she wasn't joking. "...You're the only person I know who can actually pull it off." The youth could feel a vein starting to throb in his temple as he tried to contemplate exactly what Carmon was wanting him to do. This most definatly was not something he had been expecting to do. Sure it had been his idea to slip in but from there Chad had figured on just trying to see how they did their set up, listen for any heavier whispers of missing people and maybe spotting out a few suspicious people to then red flag. But this...this was more than he had been counting on. What sucked was the fact that the more and more that Carmon was going on about this idea of hers the more legit it sounded.

Sighing heavily Chad lifted a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose, he had spotted the way those blue eye's were expressing the Captains emotion and feelings. Shit why did he have to be put on the spot like this!! When Carmon rushed off just after depositing that purple and blue hued wig on his head those lavender oculars would just narrow. This had to be one of the most embaressing things he'd ever was going to go through. And that was saying something considering his past life and what all wasn't written on paper or known to anyone but himself by this time in his life. Well....it couldn't be that bad right?

That was the thought drifting through his mind as his commanding officer finally skittered back with this...this furry vest thing. It was going to happen it seemed. "God woman...Fine..fine just..pick out what ever you want for this. I gotta finish finding things for Ace's shit." Wait..did he seriously just give in like that? No over dramatic complaining...no scathing comments, no bitching, whining or additude?! It was the way she was looking at him..well looking in general. Carmon was happy, excited almost, to be doing this. Frankly Chad just didn't have it in him to tell her no, not in the same sense that he could do to Ace or Dane.

Waving his hand in a dismissive manner he would shoo Carmon off to let her hunt for something to go with the vest and wig she so desperately wanted to see him wear. Plucking the dreads from his head he would hand them back to the Captain before turning around and venturing deeper into the store. An hour...a full hour was spent there picking and choosing, discarding and flat out refusals before finally not only was Ace's outfit picked out but his own as well. It wouldn't of taken so long if Chad hadn't been half heartedly fighting with Carmon about actually trying on her choices " You have to make sure they fit after all." Hell was shopping with women always like this? Chad had heard that it was supposedly supposed to be some nightmarish experiance that no man wanted to truely go through.....they were right.

Carrying the bags to Carmons car Chad would slid them into her trunk before the two would venture out and back towards the Mockingbird. It most definatly was not something he truely wanted to end up going back to but frankly he couldn't run from his problems. It was time to man up and face reality. With a few encouraging smiles Carmon would pull up to the bar though left her car idling "Chad. I want you to know that if you ever really need anything. Well..I want you to feel like you can call or come to me for anything, anything at all. I wont mind if its something small or something large. I just want to be able to help you when you need it. I know Ace can be hard to handle sometimes...or to be honest almost all of the time but just remember he really does care."

Chad would just sit there as he watched the womans hand reach out to once more settle against the side of his head, her thumb stroking once or twice before it was pulled away. The action had his cheeks hinting at just a touch of blush before he cleared his throat "Uh..yeah..thanks. Seriously thanks. I'll keep your offer in mind." An effort was made to give a bit of a smile before the short male opened the car door and slipped from his seat. Retreaving his purchesses Chad would tuck his skateboard under his arm. Slipping into the bar he noticed that it was empty and a slight breath of relief was taken at the idea of not having to face Dane just yet. Granted it didn't mean that Chad was going to get to avoid this forever but at least he had a little more time to contemplate how he was going to go about it. Shuffling through his bags the almost eighteen year old pulled out a smaller bag which he set on the counter of the bar.

It wasn't much but Chad had figured an "I'm Sorry" gift could do the trick along with an appoligy for just how much of a dick he had been lately. In that bag was a simple item..just a pair of lamb skin leather gloves. The fingers clipped near the middle knuckle and ventilation holes over the main knuckle of the hands. Instead of cheep velcro around the wrist to tighten the hold of the glove the back was done almost in a corset like fashion allowing better control for comfort and snugness. Hopefully Dane would like it. From there Chad slipped upstairs to visit Ace's room first. Peeking in he made sure that the red head wasn't occupying the space before he slid inside and place one of the bags on the bed. Inside was the outfit he had personally payed for, compleat with accent pieces, aka jewelry and what not, along with a pair of heavy leather boots. The sizes had all been guessed but hopefully everything fit properly. If not it wasn't like Chad couldn't bring the things back for an exchange, besides he wasn't about to let Ace see the reciet considering how much he had ended up spending on the hybrids ensamble alone.

The last stop was his own room, of which he was surprised to find the door unlocked. Figuring the others had picked it...or better yet used a master key Chad brushed off the mild irritation of that knowledge and entered into the mess that he had created. Sighing at his own stupidity Chad set down his own bag before sliding it under the bed. From there he spent the next half hour picking up the distruction he had caused, mildly upset at himself for how he had destroied several self made ocarina pieces before simply moving on. When anyone finally did notice he was home they would find the once street rat sitting on his couch the room once more in order while he held that golden urn in his lap while he lovingly polished it.

Carmon's car had pulled off a while ago Dane had seen it through the glass panes of the double doors. Shortly after that, Ace had come down the stairs. Each sluggish step was an indicator that the redhead was still experiencing a fair amount of discomfort despite his best efforts to hide it. As though mimicking Dane, a lit cigarette was pressed between his lips also. An index finger was hooked into the dark fur collar of his leather jacket, which lay draped over his left shoulder. The shirt he wore was a faded black like he'd owned it for ages, the sleeves had been either cut or ripped at the shoulder seam, and the silver print across the chest which read 'ZERO' (but the O was actually in the shape of a star) had become cracked and brittle. Each hem was frayed, and safety pins were required to hold it together in places. Dark, well fitted, faded denim jeans were tucked into the leather of supple, well-worn mid-calf combat boots. From the top seam of the right boot, spied the silver clip of a hidden switchblade. Hell, if he was going to venture into slum-lord central he might as well take a little extra stab-insurance than his firearm. Wallet with chain attached to the front, left belt loop and cut off leather gloves were the only two typical accessories he sported.

The redheaded hybrid marched past the bar, where Dane sat sipping his cold cup of coffee, and headed for the door. Just before reaching for the brass door handle, Ace stopped and turned his head to shoot one last summer-meadow gaze toward his friend. "Well, guess I'll see you later. Don't work too hard." And with that, he reached to open one of the double doors, though was stopped when he heard the barkeeps voice at his back. "Hey Ace... The half-Italian froze and turned half way, pierced eyebrow angled upwards with curiosity. Dane found himself right on the brink of asking the ex-hitman about what exactly had happened between Ace and Carmon, but instead he simply twitched the corner of his lips into a kind and complacent smile and said: "...Be careful, okay? Call if you need anything." Ace blinked several times while he stared across the open room at his dark haired friend. Dane simply tipped his flat-cap hat a degree in his direction, causing the redhead to crack a smile. "You too, Dane." He said while he took a drag from his cigarette and finally turned back to open the door.

The drive into the lower East side wasn't a particularly pleasant one. It never was. But that day it almost seemed as though international 'drive like a dumbass' day. First, he almost got rear-ended by some frat boy at a stop light, and then some old ass-weasel in a candy apple red sports car cut him off on the interstate. Ace probably would have been cursing up a storm if he hadn't been so deeply in thought. He wondered if Carmon had any luck at finding Chad. The adolescent must have been seriously upset to have destroyed all those instruments he put so much effort into creating. How in the hell was he supposed to smooth this one over?? Just saying that he was sorry wasn't going to cut it... not this time anyway. They would need to sit down and talk about it; about why things had happened the way they did. Ace dreaded the thought of it, but they were in need of mutual understanding about eachother. It was long overdue. As a matter of fact, there were a couple of things that the freelancer had been wanting to discuss with the youth, but thus far hadn't found the right time to bring them into conversation... not that he was all too great at that anyway. But the day was still young and there would be time for that later. For now, he had to focus on finding this place... it would have been so much easier with Chad riding shotgun.

The sleek, black, classic car was parked inconspicuously once Ace knew he was in the general area he needed to be in. From there, he brought up a map on his cell. A single tap to the screen locked onto his location. He zoomed in a few degrees and with a circular motion of his thumb, selected the exact building that was to be his destination. A direct route was formulated quickly, and it even calculated how long it would take for him to arrive on foot. Gotta love Cipher tech toys. A twenty-minute walk lay ahead. The redhead sighed with vexation. Like it wasn't already bad enough that his junk was sore as hell, but the air in this part of town was so terrible, one might question its breathability. It smelled like moldy rice crackers wrapped in a sweaty gym sock, and with every alley he passed, he caught a lovely whiff of urine and old baby diapers that had been baking in the dumpsters for days. Empty beer bottles lay strewn in every gutter, producing an up-draft of stale malt liquor... like the fucking yeast infection of the lower East side. Ace couldn't tell if he was getting hungry or nauseated, so to rectify that he just lit up another cigarette and began his journey.

The hike was much more slow going than he'd hoped, mostly thanks to the lingering soreness settling between long legs which made every footfall fairly uncomfortable. Not very many people were out and about just yet. It was still too early in the day for the creatures inhabiting this part of town to be alive. Not even the songs of morning birds were audible, creating an eerie, artificial silence that bordered on plain unnatural. Ace was perfectly fine with that. When the streets were this clear and quiet, it was much easier to determine whether or not someone was trying to tail you on foot...Gang tags gave this wasteland the majority of its color. They were everywhere and much like a pesky weed that couldn't be exterminated, they reappeared even in areas that had been painted over or scrubbed away. After a while, the city just gave up. Ace recognized most of them Despite the fact that he'd only spent the last two and a half years in the city, working with Cipher allowed him to quickly become acquainted with gang names, their affiliations, colors, and which part of town they considered their 'turf'. This area in particular was Las Cabecilla's territory. He could distinguish the tags rather easily. Its members were comprised of mostly South-American descent and often had confrontational run-ins with their Japanese rivals which commonly resulted in bloodshed. A police siren howled momentarily as it passed by a couple of streets over, then faded back into the quiet mechanical dissonance of the rest of the city.

Of course it didn't stay so nice a quiet for very long....go figure. Not everyone following you is a stalker with malicious intent. The creature which Ace came in contact with next was a junk-monkey trying to score some fast cash. It's usually pretty easy to tell because they weight about as much as a holocaust victim and their arms are a highway of bruises and track marks. Their skin is clammy with a pasty, yellow tint, and yet, the tragic creatures of habit; these junk-monkeys, find the energy to haggle with you over the price at which they should sell themselves to the highest bidder. The haggling starts the second you decline and they'll sling offer after desperately perverse offer at you, even chasing you down the street until the've haggled themselves down to guzzling your load for two bucks and half a cigarette. Thus came the term 'Spastic Semen Zombie'. These crazed, empty husks of society's sick and dying, who were once extraordinarily ordinary, but now had nothing left to embrace but the warm, pulsing onset of a heroin buzz... They were consumed by it.

The hybrid and the zombie crossed paths going in opposite directions on the cracked sidewalk. It seemed at first that they would simply ignore one another, though when Ace heard the hissed, hushed "Pssst, hey handsome...", he knew exactly what she was out for. Ace wasn't really in the mood to donate any semen today....not anymore.... not to her, especially....and most definitely not if he was being charged for it. The ex-hitman simply continued walking without so much as a glance of aknowledgement. Maybe if he just ignored her, she would get the hint and try barking up a different tree. But time proved, again and again, that junk-monkeys just don't operate like that. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" That verbal sewage of syllables made Ace want to shudder. Her words slurred together like her tongue was too big for her mouth, or like she had cotton balls stuffed in her cheeks. Ace stopped in his tracks and blew a breath of smoke irately through flared nostrils. Golden-green eyes blinked once before a narrow-lidded glare gradually directed itself over his shoulder at her. "I know. And you should stop now, or I might be the last person you'll ever talk to. I'm not gonna give you any money, so you might as well just piss off". No matter how calmly he wanted to speak, even when he was giving a warning, that voice of his never failed to prick the auditory senses with that low, unsettling, yet alluring resonance.

The haggard woman with her stained clothes and makeup that had beed caked of the night before, completly chose to ignore the redhead's words. Persistence might actually be the junk-monkey's only true virtue. Therefore, she approached the stopped male with a slow strut, one step at a time, one hand placed on each hip. Cut-off blue jean shorts and scuffed, red, pleather cowboy boots. A t-shirt so big that it swallowed her was tied into a knot at the hem. "Bad mood, huh? Bet I can cheer 'y up with a nice oil change. Ten bucks." She had stepped around him and stopped, staring up into those vexed summer-meadow eyes. She stood so close that Ace felt his personal space being encroached upon. Fingers of one hand began to curl into a loose fist, lips pressed together over that cigarette they held in place. Ace didn't even bother to respond. It just wasn't even worth the breath it would take. With a step forward he moved past her, shoulder-checking her in the process. She stumbled backwards a little and turned as the hybrid begann to quietly walk away. "Ow! Hey! C'mon! I'll take it real deep too!" She starter trotting after him like a show pony. "I'll even use my fingers, I'm real good with 'em!" The haggling continued on and she followed Ace for almost the entire block before finally giving up after he ignored her offer to let him fuck her in the ass for nothing more than a pack of smokes.

The freelancer had picked up the pace, despite the discomfort it caused, and allowed his long-legged stride to carry him down an allweyway per the route indicated by his cellphone. The spent cigarette was flicked into an open dumpster, perhaps in hopes that it would catch fire. This city could use a good cleansing, and if wildfires had that effect in nature, maybe it could work just as well here too. As the mercenary snaked his way through the dark little alleyway, he came upon the fossils of an old playground. In every visible direction, the towering, condemned industrial warehouse buildings threw jagged shadows onto the cracked pavement. Like sleeping stone giants their silhouettes reached motionlessly into the pale, overcast sky. Rows upon rows of broken or boarded up windows stretched upward, like derelict ladders to the heavens. The gate of the surrounding chainlink fence had been chained and padlocked long ago. The playground itself looked old, dingy, and littered with rusted little corners to snag your elbow on…a tetanus infection waiting to happen. The once vibrant colors of red, green, yellow and blue had all faded out to dull pastels, worn by the elements and probably acid rain of the industrial wasteland. Once upon a time, children came to play on the monkey bars, swing sets and spiraling tube slides, but these days it sat as a lonely monument, just waiting for the inevitable day when it would be torn completely from the landscape of the city. The feeling seemed somewhat familiar... Ace stopped dead in his tracks for a moment, just to take in the scenery while he pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it. That's when he noticed it, that strange and unfamiliar symbol at his feet. It had been stenciled there with spray paint and looked to be rather fresh. The symbol was perhaps an O, or the number 0... Inside it was what might be recognized as a jagged line, like a lightning bolt or the letter Z. Ace wasn't quite sure what to make of it, so he decided to take a picture for reference. Then he reached up in order to let that ID tag chain of his vanish beneath the neck-line of his shirt. It's not like it was common knowledge what those tags were really for... But Ace just didn't feel like taking the risk.

After a fair amount of walking, the redhead finally came to his destination. The old derelict warehouse was a rather massive structure. From what he could tell, Chad had been right. Some sort of old meat processing and shipping facility. The truck-docking stations were a dead giveaway that this was the sort of place from which large amounts of cargo got shipped all over the country. Somewhere on the property, a large dog was barking angrily. Ace could only pray that the animal was chained to something. Getting in wasn't all that difficult. The was a hole in the chain-link fence, and one of the dock doors was broken. Inside of the warehouse, it was dark. Tiny windows at the top of the 50 foot ceilings provided for little illumination, though he could see just enough not to need a flashlight. It appeared as though setup had already been started.... or they were breaking down equipment from a recent gig. Spot-lights were up, the stage was constructed, and the large, walk-in freezers had been converted to lounging areas judging from the various couches. Behind the erected stage was a massive, blank white screen, like the type you see at the old drive-in movie theaters. Ace made sure to document every inch of the place by taking pictures on his mobile phone. This would prove to be crucial later.

Now, if only he could find some hint of when this gig was supposed to go down, that would be lovely... but it wasn't like these types of events were publicly advertised and even word-of-mouth invitations were generally very selective. Sometimes, however, when simply talking with someone to get your info wasn't an option, taking a gander at their garbage was just about the next best thing. Ace recalled seeing one of those industrial sized dupsters right next to one of the docking bay doors outside of the building. Dumpster diving, however, proved to be a rather fruitless endeavor. All he managed to find were various building materials, empty bottles, broken light bulbs and so on... The damn guard dog had started barking again too, which Ace assumed was his own doing, but soon found that he was no longer the only one on the premises. It was difficult to hear the truck's engine over the persistent barking, but once the hybrid heard the noise of one of those dock doors rolling open, he was at full alert.

Peeking his head barely above the edge of the heavy-duty metal siding, he watched as a generic, white, moving truck slowly backed up until its backside lay flush against open bay door. The dog was going insane at this point. No wonder it was on a chain. That animal was ready to rip into anyone who came onto the property, regardless of whether or not they had permission to be there. From the looks of it, this truck was either here to drop off equipment, or pick it back up... and Ace hoped it wasn't the latter, because that would mean that they just missed their window of opportunity by a hair. A large, middle-aged man with a receding hair line stepped out of the driver's side. Ace ducked down and shifted his weight slightly to retain steady footing on the rubble below him. "I wish that fucking cunt of a dog would shut the fuck up!" The freelancer listened to the man's voice before another one chimed in just seconds later. "Quit whining, lets just get this shit unloaded so we can go. Where the fuck is Skylar?! That blue-haired prick could at least be here to help." Their conversation continued, unaware that Ace was hearing it all. "He'll be here... probably after we done with all this shit, but fuck it, let's just go."
"Remind me again why the boss hired him for this?"
"Because, you idiot, Alec got himself killed in that shootout, remember...? Besides, from what I heard, Skylar is even better."

Their voices began to fade as the two men slowly walked away toward one of side entrances. So they were still setting up, not breaking down. Excellent.

Once the coast was clear, the hybrid vaulted himself over the edge of the dumpster and onto the cracked pavement of the old parking lot. Sure, he could stick around and eavesdrop on conversation in order to find out more, but he really didn't feel like putting forth the effort at this point. He'd get his information from somewhere else. Soles of heavy leather boots pounded the pavement as he made his way toward the hole in the chainlink. He'd almost made it when a flare of sunlight caught his attention from the corner of his vision like nails against a chalk board. Another car pulled up into the lot, behind it, someone re-locked the gate. Ace stood squinted-eyed and watched for a moment as a young, slender figure with bright blue hair left the vehicle's driver seat and began walking toward the warehouse. If it hadn't been for the great distance between them, he might have sworn that the two of them had locked eyes for a split second. But it was right around that point in time when Ace glanced over his shoulder to realize one very important thing... The guard dog had snapped its collar, and was now charging right for him. Upon realizing this, the ex-hitman literally scrambled to find his footing and get the hell out of dodge.

Ace darted down the street with the dog in hot pursuit. It was a purebred Rottweiler from what he could tell; a large male. He honestly wasn't so sure for how long he'd be able to outrun it, and thus his best solution to the current problem was to simply hit his assailant with a steel-toed boot to the face. It was at least enough to send the dog to the ground, stunned for several moments, while the redhead could make a quick getaway. That's all he needed, honestly. Dealing with guard dog's wasn't particularly difficult if you could shake them long enough to get out of their sight, from then on, you're home free. Ace had just about had enough for the day and took a quick shortcut down an alley as he lit up another cigarette. The dog was gone, and he honestly had no idea how he could possibly find any more information concerning that damn rave. At this point, he just wanted to go the fuck home and lie down for a while. Of course, as things go, this desire of his was delayed once again.

Ace had almost reached the end of the alley, where it intersected with the main road. He had been on his path back to the car when all of a sudden, a small body rounded the corner like speedy-fucking-gonzales and plowed right into the side of him. The cigarette between his lips was just about knocked from its place. Honestly, at first, the girl was nothing but a blur of pink hair and brightly colored clothes, but once she'd rammed his shoulder and just kept on going, the redhead's interest was piqued. Not only did the small female cease to apologize after colliding with him, but went on to skillfully climb on top of the dumpster before leaping up to grab hold of a low-hanging fire escape ladder with a gymnast's agility. 'Woah...' were the only words out of his mouth at that point. But... what on earth was she running from that had her in such a hurry?! It couldn't possibly be good. A low growl caused Ace's head to swivel back into the direction of the alley's mouth, where the form of the large, muscular Rottweiler now came into view as it rounded the corner. The hybrid couldn't believe his own eyes. "Oh, you've gotta be fucking shitting me..." Words were mumbled to himself as he took a deep breath in. There was only one way he was going to get rid of this fucker now, because he wasn't about to let it chase him all over the damned city.

Ace took a defensive stance, bracing himself for the impact that was about to come. His left arm was angled outward in the direction of the large animal while his other hand slowly reached down to pluck the switchblade from the hem of his boot. 'Allright... c'mon.... bring it....' He thought to himself. The dog's lips drew back into a wicked snarl just before it charged toward the ex-hitman. The creature's lunge felt more like a tackle, and Ace actually had to re-adjust his footing momentarily while the creature closed its powerful maw around his left, leather-clad arm. As soon as he felt the biting pressure of teeth pressing shut against his flesh, his right hand snapped up to deliver a bladed thrust from below that punctured the canine's bottom and top jaw and found its home just at the base of the cranium. The animal fell limp as Ace withdrew the blade from fur, skin and muscle. Blood spilled down onto the fingers that curled around the grip of the knife. Although his breath was steady, his thoughts were reeling. This dog had been trained and raised for one sole purpose, and one alone....to kill and to protect... There was no way this creature could ever recover and be integrated into 'normal' society... it was a hopeless case. So perhaps he had done it a favor by ending its life? A bloodied hand ran through a mess of red hair before he wiped the blade against the fabric of his jeans and returned it to the hem of his boot.

The Rottweiler's teeth remained loosely clamped around Ace's left arm until he pulled the limb free and let the animal's corpse sink completely to the ground. Great, yet another part of his body that was going to be sore. Fingers of his right hand rubbed against his left forearm inside the sleeve; blood and dog saliva still clinging to it. For a split second, Ace actually forgot about the girl being chased by the animal, but it returned to him quickly. As he turned his body slightly, tilting his head back to look up at the rod-iron fire escape, the redhead was actually surprised to find her staring back down at him. A pierced eyebrow lifted. Who the hell was this girl? "Hey.... Are you okay?" Had the circumstances been different, she most likely wouldn't have stopped for anyone or anything, but she did just watch the tall man with the red mess of hair get attacked by a dog on her behalf.... the fact that he then proceeded to stab it to death was beside the point. The pink-haired female worked her way back down toward the ground. She jumped from the top of the closed dumpster and landed in a crouch once neon blue and black skateboarding shoes had hit the pavement. Ace watched her descend. Her pink hair was cropped just above her shoulders. Mirrored sunglasses rested on the bridge of her nose, concealing her eyes. As she approached Ace, he could now tell that she was wearing a backpack, straps snug against the skin of bare shoulders. Bright purple pants sported a variety of multicolored straps that swayed and fluttered with every step. Last but not least, a white tank top with sky blue stars was covered by a cropped, neon pink vest with a white fur collar.

Ace wiped bloodied fingers against his jeans before she reached him. "Yeah, I'm good. He didn't get me all that bad." Golden green eyes shifted from the female to the dead dog at his feet, and then back to her. He should probably get rid of that, before some random pedestrian could wander by and see it... that would be interesting to stumble upon: A tiny, pink-haired chick and a tall, intimidating redhead with bloodied fingers having a pow-wow in an alley with a dead dog that was slowly leaking crimson fluid onto the pavement. The girl tilted her head and shifted her mirror-shaded gaze down to the animal corpse. One small hand lifted to raise those sunglasses up. Her eyes were mismatched. One was gray while the other was a strange hue of aquamarine. With those mismatched orbs she inspected the dog while Ace leaned over and picked up the animal. It must have weight at least 120 lbs. His left arm was tender, and he felt the bruising already start to set in beneath the leather sleeve. "Woah, I think that's the dog from the warehouse..." Her words were quietly mumbled to herself for the most part, but as soon as they left her lips, Ace's eyes widened the slightest degree. She knew?! Well, wasn't this a happy coincidence. "Hm?" A pierced eyebrow raised while a slightly strained glance of curiosity was shot toward her. The dog was getting heavy in his arms. "Oh, nothing... don't worry about it..." She pushed her shades up to rest on top of her head, lips curled into a sweet, almost innocent little smile. Ace simply shrugged. "All right then. Give me a hand, will ya?" His head tilted to gesture in the direction of the dumpster. Several moments later, the dead creature was tossed inside before the girl let the lid fall shut.

The redhead plucked a cigarette from his pack and lit it, which caused the female to do the same. He leaned his tall frame against the metal siding of the dumpster and took a long drag, eyes closed, head tilted back. His left forearm throbbed slightly. Hearing the girl's voice once more, he parted his lids and focused his vision on her. "Hey, I'm really sorry about the whole dog thing... I was just walking down the street, minding my own business, and all of a sudden the fucker starts coming after me... Does it hurt?" Ace offered a shrug and took another drag. "I'd take some pain pills right about now. Got any in that backpack of yours?" She was short, maybe a little over 5ft, and looked like she weighed next to nothing. There it was again, that sweet little smile. Ace couldn't help but wonder if it was a farce, or if she serviced everyone with such a friendly face. He'd have to find out more. She was his ticket into that warehouse. "Yeah! I'm pretty sure I do, considering how many headaches my idiot of a co-worker tends to give me." She let her backpack slip from her shoulders and set it down before dropping to a squat as she began to rummage around inside the fuzzy, bright green sachel. Summer-meadow eyes stayed trained on her. A few moments later, she stood back up and leaned against the dumpster right beside him. In her hand was a ziploc bag. "Ok, so no pain pills... but I've got this. You can have it if you want. It's pretty potent. No paranoia. Mellows me right the fuck out after a stressful day." Ace's pierced eyebrow twitched and he straightened out his posture before taking the clear plastic bag into his own blood-smeared fingers. The bag contained three pristinely rolled joints. A little hint of a smile tugged the corner of his lips upward. Stuffing the bag carefully into his jacket pocket, he directed his gaze back down to the short female at his side. "Perfect. Thanks... I appreciate it." Mismatched eyes blinked up at him for several seconds while she studied his features. Without saying another word, she pushed her weight from the cold, metal, waste recepticle and walked over to gather up her backpack. Her business was done here. She'd cleared her conscience at least a little. But of course Ace had no intentions of just letting his opportunity slip away like that. "Hey..." He began by saying while shifting his weight a bit. "...are you free this weekend? It'd be nice to see you again." His hand lifted to take another drag from the tobacco cylinder. The girl stopped and tilted her head, that smile of hers now looked the slightest bit more mischievous than it had before. A touch of red graced her cheeks. "Sorry, I'll be working alot." She replaced the mirrored shades over her eyes. Ace now also pushed himself from the side of the dumpster and took several slow steps toward her to close the distance. She smelled of clean laundry, a hint of sun-screen, and vanilla. Those two longer tendrils of hair brushed his cheeks as he looked down on her. "That's too bad. I would have loved to take you out... find a club... someplace with a good set-list where I don't feel like stabbing the DJ." Her own eyebrow raised behind the reflective shades. She was intrigued; curious. This guy... First he became a living chew toy for a guard dog because of her and now he wanted to take her out on a date? This one was certainly an anomaly. Ace continued to stare down into the reflective lenses, a playful little smirk now forming on his lips. He literally towered over her small stature. "C'mon... I want to at least get to know the unique, lovely lady who got me mauled by an attack dog." Small arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at him pensively. But at last, she bore a broad smile. Hands moved to rest on her hips. The tall readhead was certainly attractive, and even though she was fairly apathetic when it came to men paying her compliments, there was something different about this one. It was almost as though he had a certain charm, or charisma, or magnetism about him that just drew her in. "I'll tell you what. " She began by saying before she reached one hand into a cargo pocket and pulled out a pen. Since Ace's right hand was caked with drying blood, she grabbed for his left instead. The hybrid's jaws tightened the slightest at the tinge of pain that rolled through his forearm in throbbing waves while the girl scribbled something on the back of his hand. "Be at this address tomorrow night after 11:30. It'll blow any club you've ever been to right out of the water." She released his hand and tucked the pen back into her pants. "Is that so?" That pierced eyebrow twitched again. "You'll see. The password is 'Pandemonium'" Ace tilted his head. "Password?" The girl giggled a little and reached out to give him a gentle tap against a leather-clad shoulder before she slowly began to back away. "To get in the door. I gotta go though. I'll see you tomorrow." Ace took the last drag of his cigarette as he watched her turn and walk away. "Wait, I don't even know your name!" He called after her, that deep, resonant voice of his echoed through the walls of the alley. She turned mid-step and continued walking backwards several paces as she called out her response. "Just call me Y.T." And with that, she spun back around and disappeared.

With a grin on his lips, the hybrid made his way back to the car. It seemed like on a day that had started with dick-punching, getting harassed by a junk-monkey, and being bitten by a dog, he had at least been graced with a small touch of luck. Maybe it would turn out for the better after all. It was almost 11. The key turned in the egnition and the classic car sprung to life with a low growl of the engine. Should he call Carmon now? Nah, he'd wait until he got back to the Mockingbird before he tackled that task. Why the hell did he have to report this crap anyway? Why was she so eager to stay involved in this assignment? Oh well, if the woman insisted, then that's what he'd have to do. At least he didn't have to write up physical field reports. When he reached his own neck of the woods, a song by Green Day was blaring through the car stereo and he couldn't help but think of Chad. Would the kid be back at the pub? Or would he be out on the town for the remainder of the day? This was something he simply couldn't predict. He drove down a road lined with little local shops and restaurants. It was a strip along which a lot of unique and unusual items could be found. Artists sold their crafts to the store owners, and they in turn sold it to the interested buyer for a bit of profit. It was then that Ace was struck with an idea, and he drove about another two blocks until he reached a small, local music establishment, where he parked the car and stepped out onto the street. Some random pedestrian stopped him to compliment his mode of transportation, to which Ace simply offered a nod before he sauntered into the store. He knew what he was looking for, though considering his more than lacking expertise on the subject of instruments, he wasn't even sure if the place would carry anything like what he was on the hunt for.

Luckily, the place wasn't your typical instrument shop. Their inventory consisted of a little more than guitars, drums and synthesizers. They stocked the unusual and unique, from accordions to piccolos and even a bag-pipe or two were in the mix. It didn't take too much browsing to find what he wanted. Their selection of the hand-crafted instruments wasn't huge, but there were several beautiful pieces to choose from. One had to wonder why exactly Ace was doing this... Chad had broken all of his creations into small, powdered pieces all on his own accord. But if he had broken them all, did he actually have one that he could play right away when the mood struck him? Every person had their own way of dealing with stress, with anxiety and pain. For those skilled and talented enough, music was an outlet. Ace lacked that talent, and the result of this lacking outlet tended to be rage and that violent temper of his.

The freelancer studied each one of the ceramic instruments in the display case in front of him, though there was one piece in particular that continued to tug at his attention. This was the one he eventually chose. The ocarina had a glaze which reminded him of Chad's ghostly lavender eyes. What at first simply appeared to be a rich hue of purple under the lap light of the display case turned out, upon closer inspection, to be a coating of iridescent glaze. When Ace picked it up gently between fingers coated in dry blood, he noticed just how nicely the purple transitioned the shades of blue, magenta, and even a pale, pearlescent pink. Turning it this way and that between his fingers, it now not only reminded him of those lavender eyes, but what they might look like staring up into a sky bruised with melding sunset hues. Ace made his purchase, not without a few strange looks from the store clerk. He was never one for gift bags and tissue paper, so it was a good thing the instrument came with its own little protective case.

Once he finally returned home, the bar was quiet. There was no sign of Dane. His car was gone but since the doors had been left unlocked, he couldn't have gone very far. A pierced brow twitched upward when Ace stepped past the bar and caught sight of the small bag resting on the polished counter top. As curious and nosy as he was by nature, he had the feeling that if the bag was meant for him, someone would mention it sooner or later, but if not... well, then it just wasn't. Something smelled absolutely fantastic. As a matter of fact, it smelled exactly like a classic Italian kitchen, which reminded him a bit of the way his grandparent's home used to smell. Tomato, basil, oregano, rosemary, garlic... it was a wonderful combination of scents and as his mouth began to water, he finally knew that he was actually hungry. Leaving the main bar area, the redheaded hybrid ascended the stairs. He really needed to scrub the blood from his hand and take a gander at that throbbing left forearm of his. But before he would do that, he'd make a quick pit-stop and leave that little gift on Chad's bed so the youth would find it once he returned. Hopefully Chad would like it. Not that Ace had even the first clue when it came to judging the quality of ocarinas, but it definitely looked and felt like it had been made with expertise and craftsmanship.

To his surprise, Chad was actually in his room, when the ex-hitman stepped over the threshold. He found the small male sitting on the black micro-suede couch, one hand polishing the surface of his mother's golden urn, while the other hand slowly and carefully turned the object. Ace really hadn't expected the youth to be back already. Now, instead of leaving the gift on the deep red surface of the comforter, he'd have the opportunity to deliver it in person; something he'd never been particularly good at. "Hey, you're back..." An astute observation. Crimson stained fingers rubbed in an almost nervous fashion at the back of his neck. "Listen, I'm really sorry about being such an insensitive prick to you earlier. I shouldn't have reacted like that, and I'm gonna do my best not to let it happen again." His voice was calm and steady. Golden-green eyes peered down at the young male while he stepped further into the room, approaching the couch. "Here, I got you something. Wasn't sure if you still have one left or if you broke 'em all." Ace stuck his fingers into his jacket pocket and dug out the instrument in its protective case, which he then proceeded to hold out toward the adolescent. "I know you can probably make nicer ones, but I still hope you like it." Once Chad had taken the peace-offering from his hand, Ace hooked both of his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. At this point, he really just wanted to lie down and relax for a little while. His arm was sore, his crotch was still sore too, and even though he felt the growling of his stomach, the redhead lacked the motivation to work up much of an appetite.

Skylar stretched as he left the cat-walk and headed from the plane to the terminal. A lazy yawn escaped him as he rolled his neck and headed towards the baggage claim carosel. He shifted the backpack that was on his shoulder, up further to keep it from falling. It was only a few minutes of crowd weaving (cause people are idiots and can't walk in an airport for whatever reason), before he reached baggage claim. However, when he got there, he found that his bags were already sitting beside a man dressed in black. Black shoes (rather expensive italian leather by the looks of it), black slacks and a black leather jacket. Skylar couldn't see the man's shirt since the jacket covered the sleeve cuffs of the shirt, but he assumed it was also black. The man had blonde, spiked hair. It wasn't crazy spiked, but the front of his hair was. The man's face was hidden by a news paper, so Skylar couldn't see his face. He moved over to the man and tilted his head to the side as he cleared his throat. "Why the hell do you have my stuff?" He asked curiously. If anything was broken or missing (though the cases were locked), then he would beat this guy into a bloody pulp and have it replaced (at the blonde's expense, of course). With a sigh, the blonde aknowledged Skylar, folding the paper neatly and setting it aside. He looked up at the bluenette and quirked an eyebrow. "Would you rather customs confiscate it?" The blonde retaliated with a confident smirk. "Seems that a lot of those componants can be used for bomb creation. Now aren't I such a nice guy to talk to my friend in customs. You can be thankful for this later Viktor doesn't like it when his appointments run late." This guy had balls. Hiring him, then threatening to set him up and frame him. "There's nothing there for them to have a reason." Skylar shrugged. The suitcase had a few laptops. What would warrant authorities to search it? Nothing. The blonde smirked and folded up the newspaper and tucked it under his arm for the moment "Seems that a lot of those componants can be used for bomb creation. Now aren't I such a nice guy to talk to my friend in customs. You can be thankful for this later Viktor doesn't like it when his appointments run late." Skylar tsked and chuckled at the blond's audacity. "And they look at what you're hiding when they find out it's a bunch of computers and not bomb bits. I'm just an accountant, what's your story?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a bit and smirking. Lukin's smirk would turn into what appears to be a genuine smile as he would glance at his nails as if checking to make sure there were no dirt under them. "After all this nine eleven buisness I'm sure you can understand just how jumpy those poor workers are." When asked what his story was he would glance up at Skylar before chuckling "Me? Well I'm just your oportunistic entrepeneur. The jack of all trades in regards to buisness" Skylar couldn't help but out right laugh at the blonde's comments. "And there are laws that contradict that. They need a reason to search my stuff. Suspicious behaviour, carrying illegal substances, etc. and would have to get a warrant, which no doubt would take time. They can't hold me against my will, if they have nothing to prove I'm a threat." Skylar was starting to think that this guy was all bark and no bite. From the rumors he had heard, Skylar expected a hard ass, no nonsense giant that was ready to snap his neck at the drop of a hat. The blonde grabbed Skylar's bags before turning around and leading the way out of the terminal "Actually under freshly passed laws all any authority needs now is the suspicion of intent. Besides who said anything about detaining you. They would of just kept your things until they were deamed clean. And with the whole fear of terrorists it wouldn't take them long at all to obtain a warrent. Sure you would of gotten your stuff back soon enough though I wouldn't trust them to of put it back together in the right way. But enough about all this, you really are an ungreatfull little shit aren't you. Regardless we really do need to get going if I'm supposed to get you to Vicktor on time. Like I said he doesn't like being kept waiting or late appointments." Skylar really couldn't believe how ballsy this guy was. He really didn't understand the man's logic. Was the threats of destruction of his hardware, possible jail time and being labeled as a terrorist supposed to scare him? It really didn't. "Even then, I claim profiling because I'm a middle eastern looking kid and they let me go in fear of a law suit." It really was that easy to get out of dodge in the states. It was almost pathetic. He moved to follow the other man but stopped short at being called ungrateful. "I'm not the one threatening their employee." Despite the insults and extremely powerful urge to punch this guy in the teeth, he did agree that they should be going. Skylar wasn't one to be late for meetings with potential and current clients. The blond male just shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what you think then keep at it. You'd be surprised." It wasn't so much that he was threatening as Lukin was purely enjoying the banter from the smart ass from his left. Maneuvering his way through the thinning crowd, the blonde led the way towards a rather upscale black mercedes. Popping open the trunk, he set Skylar's luggage inside before shutting it and making his way to the drivers seat. "Correction, I'm not your employer. I'm just an interested partner. The one writing out your checks is Viktor. Now if you'd be so kind to keep that trap shut my radio show's on." With that said Lukin reached forward and flipped on the car's radio before the sounds of two men and a female filled the dead air in the vehicle. Skylar climbed into the back seat, eyeing the others in the car, sizing them up. He sat down, slipping his belt on and pulled out his mp3 player. He set the buds of his headphones into his ears and started playing 'Welcome to the Jungle' by Guns 'n Roses. It was about a half hour (and several songs) later that Skylar saw the car pulling up to a nice cafe. The car parked and the snarky blonde opened the door for him. He was told to go inside and sit at the table in the far right corner, with his back to rest of the store. So he did. He sat down and sighed, knowing this was some kind of test.

After having dropped Chad off at the Mockingbird, Captain Matthews needed to head homeward herself in order to change clothes. There was no way in hell she would show up at headquarters without her uniform. The only thing Carmon had kept from the outfit that was chosen for Chad's portion of the undercover mission was a thin, leather collar with a silver buckle and an oversized, silver bell. She hadn't really divulged for what purpose she chose to hang on to the item, but her plan was to give the accessory a complete overhaul with a few technical enhancements. She actually did fell a little sympathetic for Chad, after all, dressing up in girl's clothes and parading around in a massive crowd of people wasn't exactly on his list of favorite pass-time activities. Carmon was, none the less, very thankful for the young male's cooperation in the whole matter. Honestly, she had at least expected an argument, rebellion, or at the very least a little attitude... The blonde woman's ocean blue eyes glanced down to her cellphone for a moment after parking her car in the space in front of her apartment building. There hadn't been a single call or text message from Ace as of yet, and she wasn't sure if she should interpret that as a good or a bad sign. At any rate, Carmon was sure that she'd hear from the redheaded misfit sooner or later. Even though Ace had a tendency to be more than rough around the edges, he had always been reliable when it came to his work.

As she ascended the stairs to her flat, she caught sight of a note that had been pinned to her door with a silver thumb-tack. On her door-mat, vibrant and warm in the sunlight, rested a glass vase that held an assorted bouquet of red and white roses. "Carmon, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am. I really screwed up. Can we talk?" Her pale eyes scanned the words written in that all-too-familiar cursive script. With nothing more than a scoff, grimace, and flick of the wrist, the ripped the note from the door, leaving behind only the thumbtack that had held it in place. Why was it that the majority of men were under the impression that flowers and chocolates were universally the most successful means of apologizing to any woman?! It would have been wholly different had he actually been there waiting for her with flowers in hand to deliver his apology in person... but no, he had found it acceptable to leave his plea for atonement on her doorstep like some aborted concept of what might have at one time been a genuine sentiment, but was left abandoned for some other priority. The paper was crumpled between fingers that tensed into a fist. In her eyes, this made even Ace, with his slacker attitude and callous demeanor look like a better person than the man who had addressed this sad excuse for an apology to her.

Despite her cocktail of feelings that bordered both disappointment and personal insignificance, she still proceeded to take the bouquet inside. There was no use in just letting it rot on her doorstep. The balled up note was discarded in the waste bin on her way to her bedroom, and with as much effort as she could muster at that point, she forced the issues dominating her personal life aside in order to focus fully on her professional duties. It seemed almost like a defense mechanism for Carmon; a rinse and repeat cycle of: 'When the going gets tough, work harder to avoid direct emotional confrontation'. Not exactly healthy, but there was a reason for why she was the lead figure of a private military unit after all. The metamorphosis from evening-wear to uniform was done as quickly as possible, and once she'd pinned up her hair and freshened up her makeup to her standards, the slender blonde captain was on her way once more. Cipher Corps headquarters was only a stone's throw away from her living quarters. Once she'd parked her car in her private, designated space, she snatched that little cat-like bell collar from the leather cushion of her passenger seat and bee-lined it for the main entrance. It was almost midday.

Traversing the wide, open space of the main entryway, she was greeted respectfully by various subordinates just as she usually was. She stepped into one of the elevators and selected the basement level on the touch-screen of the elevator's control panel. Division 4 was known as the Intelligence and Engineering division for a reason. It was an amalgamation of scientific savants and the tech-savvy. From robotics/weapons/computer/chemical engineers to basic programmers, hackers, communications specialists, biologists, chemists, etc. The sub-floor of Cipher Headquarters was their developmental domain. Whatever whacky things were brewed in the undersexed minds of some conspiracy theorists about secret, experimental military tech... it was probably being studied or developed right here in the bowels of the massive building. Carmon didn't have too much time, or so she figured. Soon, someone upstairs would catch on to the fact that she had finally arrived on the premises, and she'd be flooded by various individuals delivering reports, making requests, announcing news, and god only knew what else. So it was to no real surprise when she promptly, yet politely dismissed the trio of associates who approached her, attempting to pitch their newest concept of a lightweight, polycarbonate tranquilizer gun as well as a chemical formula for expedited growth of plant life (for combat situations in which there was little natural concealment available, she assumed). With a quick wave of her hand she strode past them at a quickened pace, the little bell collar jingling between lightly curled fingers.

The person she sought out was the head of the technical engineering sector of Division 4. The middle-aged, German male sat behind his desk in his dark office, face only illuminated by the light from the multitude of computer screens in front of him. Round spectacles on the bridge of his nose were nothing more than perfect spheres reflecting pale, white flickers. Ash blonde hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail, and over his standard uniform, he donned and plain, white, unbuttoned lab coat. Once the Captain's figure had stepped from the hallway into the dark room, the man's head instantly perked up. He clapped his hands together twice and the overhead lights flickered on in succession one after another, causing his eyes to press shut in a squint likened to that of a mole. Carmon spent the next fifteen minutes or so, discussing various options for outfitting the bell collar with a voice receiver and recorder as well as several other things in the category of covert listening and tracking devices. From what she gathered at the end of the whole conversation, everything she requested was entirely doable, though she wasn't yet certain exactly what sort time window they would be limited to. She'd have to wait on Ace for that last, yet crucial bit of information.

Jason was sitting at his desk flipping through a report that a cadet had brought to his attention. It was just a basic medical report from the infirmary. A new recruit sprained an ankle and needed a week's leave of training in order for it to heal. It was as mundane as it could get. Even the financial reports were more interesting than this. At least with them, he could determine if the requested amount was really what his division needed or if it could be used more wisely else where. Like the weapons development department. With Carmon running late, he was getting her usual flood of reports, on top of his own. An almost inaudible sigh escaped the swordsman as he signed the release form for the cadet and moved onto the next report. A similar injury as the last. A broken pinky and ring finger. A small smile almost flickered across his face as he pitied the idiot who thought he could get vacation time for a few broken fingers. A popsicle stick and medical tape would keep them in place while they healed. Until then... desk duty. He stamped the paper and set it aside. The next report was actually one of his own and it was significantly more interesting. The developers for his team were requesting permission to start a new project. Something along the lines of a mix of a hornet's nest and tazer, or so the reports claim. It sounded quite simple, but he had some concerns for it. A few kinks in the weapon immediately came to mind so he rose from his chair, stretching like a cat and rolling his shoulders before walking out of his office.

As he left his office, a young cadet came running towards him with a stack of papers in his arms. More reports, no doubt. He waved the boy off and told him to sort them in a matter of importance and take the menial reports to Carmon's office and leave them with her secretary. He could deal with the important ones when he returned from his investigation of this new weapon's project. He headed through the many halls, nodding to the passing members of Cipher. It was easy to tell the cadets from the higher ranking members. It was almost cute to see them stop, completely flustered and saluting him like their lives depended on it. The poor kids had been brainwashed and terrified with stories about 'Sterling the soul-stealer'. The rumors that had spread through the five Divisions had most (if not all) of the new recruits scared of the first Lieutenant. His icy demeanor, his demand for perfectionism, the harsh punishments for unruly Cipher agents. It was taught early to the new recruits that he was the last person they wanted to cross. There were even rumors of cadets suddenly disappearing, never to be seen from again. Most assumed that he had killed them and buried their corpses somewhere on Cipher grounds. However, they really just tended to drop out from the Cipher program. Though, the swordsman never really bothered to correct those rumors. Some times fear was what was needed to keep people in line. A faint smirk wormed it's way across the first Lieutenant's face as he finally made it to Division Four's labs.
Reaching the airlock door, Jason typed in his pass-code and allowed the scanner to analyze his thumb print. Once done, the doors opened and allowed him to pass through. The moment he passed through, the door slammed shut and the room filled with a non-toxic aerosol sterilizer. With many of the experiments that ran in D-4's labs, the environment had to be sterile to produce proper results. After a few moments of the aerosol successfully ruffling his clothes and hair, the 2nd in command left the airlock and proceeded into the lab itself. It wasn't long before the swordsman came across the lead scientist for D-4, Dr. Alwin. Along with Dr. Alwin, Jason noticed that his blonde superior was there was well. It was a bit of a shock to see Carmon at work. He figured that she was taking a personal day since she didn't answer her door this morning. The First Lieutenant stood there for a moment, a bit surprised, before regaining his composure and saluting his superior. "Captian Matthews." He said giving a small bow of his head. "I was worried that you were feeling ill today. I'm glad to see that I was mistaken." Jason's overly polite demeanor could be mistaken as polite irritation for being late. However, it was more of his way of saying, "I was worried about you."

She was presently so focused on her conversation with the engineer that it went unnoticed when the door quietly opened on its sliding tracks. The German male was standing up behind his desk, inspecting the bell-collar accessory while he held it up toward the ceiling light in contemplation. "Well, what do you think?" She questioned, both arms crossed over her chest. The long-haired blond man lowered the object when he saw the door open as he peered past the rim of his spectacles and over the Captain's shoulder. "I think we have just the right thing for you. But when will you be needing these items ready for the field?" As he spoke, his eyes shifted from Carmon's cold features once the second-in-command stepped into the room. "Ah, Lieutenant Sterling. Good day to you, Sir. I'll be with you in just one minute." To have both of the higher-ups in his office at the same time... well, that was a little surprising, if not the slightest bit unnerving. Upon the mention of Jason's title, Carmon's eyes widened the slightest bit, though completely masked the fact that she'd felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't really want to turn around to face him for fear that her cheeks might be flushed, especially when that all-too-familiar voice of his began to speak. But despite any and all emotional turmoil, she had no choice but to remain completely professional, just as she had always done in the past. At last, Carmon took in a deep breath, smoothed out her expression, and turned on her heel just in time to see Jason Sterling's salute to her. Dear god, he was such a sucker for procedure...always had been...and probably always would be. Although Carmon didn't find it completely necessary, she returned the gesture anyway, all the while keeping those cold, ice-blue eyes fixed up into the taller male's face. "Lieutenant Sterling." She began by saying. Arms uncrossed so that she could brush a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. "I was...feeling a bit under the weather since last night." Lashes narrowed the slightest bit as she paused for a mere second before resuming. "But it's nothing that will stand in the way of managing my responsibilities." The captain shifted her weight and cleared her throat. "If there should be any extra, or unfinished work that might have been passed on to you in my absence, I'm sure you can see to it that it finds its way to my office in a timely manner." Meanwhile, the German lead-engineer blinked a couple of times behind those round lenses as the Captain and the first-lieutenant exchanged words. Eyes were once again cast down to the accessory in his hand before he sat back down in his chair. Behind the multitude of computer screens, he turned the object in his hands studiously, completely zoning out from the conversation ensuing between the two authoritative figures in the four walls of his office. Carmon's hands came to rest on her hips, cold eyes staring through the silver-rimmed glasses that rested on the bridge of Jason's nose. Though she seemed outwardly as confident as ever, her mind was reeling with thoughts that screamed 'Please don't say you'll come by my office later... Please don't ask me to meet with you... Please say that you're busy or...something...' She wanted to run... Well, not physically run, but just to leave the same space that he happened to be occupying... But instead, she simply stood her ground, frozen like those glacial blue eyes that trained their sights on him.

(('cause I've been asked to put this here, I'm just gonna do it now...))

Chad: The strong tang of the metal polish was a comforting smell to the world-weary male. The way it made the eyes sting ever so slightly and how the fluid would stain his fingers. this was his therapy; one of the few things that helped to both focus and calm his mind. It was the reason why he had decided to do it after the mess he created earlier had been dealt with. Not to mention Chad was using this ritual to help him gather his thoughts. Time spent with Carmon this morning had actually proved beneficial to the flood of emotions and thoughts his mind had been producing. Truth of the matter was that since his close call yesterday, Chad had been feeling distinctly vulnerable. Which to say was actually quite normal considering the situation. For the height-challenged male, however, it was an unacceptable emption. One that never had a proper place in his life. But during that little chat, Carmon caused Chad to remember just where he was, and who he was with.

The need to separate himself from those around him wasn't necessary. It was okay to form attachments, hell, it was the healthy thing to do if his therapist was right. But that whole 'Teach and old dog new tricks' echoed through his ears. And speaking of dogs... "One who's fough its whole life in a cage and one who's fought to avoid that cage...." Chad's muttered words were accompanied by the sloshing of the can filled with polish. "It's actually pretty poetic... though it makes me wonder." Ghostly orbs watched the polishing rag soak up more of the chemical before its container was set back on the coffee table. Adjusting his hold on the rag the youth would set the fibers to the metal while rotating it in sharp, small circles. "What exactly do you think that 'cage' represents, huh mom?" Silence followed the question, though it wasn't as if Chad had been expecting an answer in return. Similar questions kept rotating in his mind by the time Ace found him there. The redhead's voice caused Chad's head to lift as he kept his hands busy, this time buffing the urn to the perfect shine that the dutiful son always kept it at. "Ya, I got back a while ago. The fresh air didn't help as much as I hoped. Besides, I barely tolerate the general public to begin with...and they seem to be out in droves today." Slender shoulders rose and fell in a lazy shrug. Returning his gaze to his current project, Chad would give a nod of approval before uncurling himself from the couch cushions.

The hybrid's apology came as a surprise if Chad were to be honest. He hadn't expected it to come so swiftly, if at all... or at least in such a forward manner. Blinking slowly, the gray-haired male would set that treasured possession on its stand. "It's not your fault. I shouldn't 'of lashed out that way. It wasn't fair to you, and I should've asked what was going on before I acted. " Turning around, Chad walked back to the couch so he could get started on cleaning up his second mess of the day. "I can promise that I'll be thinking more before I act." When Ace made it known that the redhead had actually gotten him something; a gift of some sort, Chad paused mid-clean up as to see just what it could be. Pale eyes grew wide when he spotted the protective soft, protective case in Ace's hand. He knew istantly what it was even after Ace started to insinuate what exactly was hidden inside. Standing there, somewhat baffled, Chad reached for it and extracted the instrument. Turning the item around in his hands the youth felt his chest tightening as he looked back up at the Italian hybrid's face. "Ace... I don't know what... What happened?!" In mid-sentence, those sharp eyes had spotted the rusty looking, dried blood on the older male's hand. Instantly, Chad pointed to the couch, the gaze which was given booking no argument about what he wanted to be done. Once Ace would sit down, Chad gently put down his newly acquired gift before going to retrieve his backpack. Sitting himself down on the couch, Chad unzipped the bag and then proceeded to pull out his own personal little med kit. When one's main mode of transport was a skateboard, it was good to keep one of those within hand's reach.

A simple motion of his hand was indicative of his wish that the leather coat be removed, and once he finally had full access to the bite-wound, Chad winced sympathetically and popped the lid of the first-aid box. Cottonballs were pulled free along with a bottle of peroxide. Once the fibers were toroughly soaked with the liquid, he began the process of gently cleaning the wound.

Ace: The corners of his lips twitched into a soft smile as he heard the words of Chad's own apology in response to his own, but it wasn't really the apology that had provoked that smile... it was the promise of self-improvement that had done it. That smile broadened the slightest amount when the younger male took the gifted instrument into his small hands and unwrapped it from its protective case. It surely seemed like Chad was appreciative of it, though Ace wasn't quite certain if it was the gift itself, or the act of being given that gift that had the adolescent's breath stuck in his chest momentarily. What would Chad say? If anything at all? Would it even be an acceptable apology? The words that trickled from the youth's lips caused that smile to vanish instantaneously. Wait what? What happened? Observing Chad as he withdrew the instrument from its case, the hybrid had actually forgotten about the whole dog incident, until the words spoken in that unique voice had reminded him. "Hmm?"

He removed that bloodied right hand from the hem of his jeans pocket and shot a golden-green glance downward at it just before he caught sight of that commanding gesture that beckoned him to take a seat on the dark micro-suede couch. Had it been anyone else, the ex-hitman would have probably just dismissed it as nothing and went about his business without giving any explanation... but this was different. It reminded him a little of that time Chad had returned to his hotel room with the infected wrist wounds, the phantom remnants of which still lingered in the form of a jagged arrangement of scar tissue. Ace didn't feel like resisting and thus, obeyed. Lowering himself onto the cushions, summer-meadow orbs followed Chad as the small male moved to retrieve his backpack, or rather, something that was inside it. "Guard dog..." He began by saying whist Chad took a seat beside him. Ace inspected the digits caked with dry crimson, flexing and opening his hand as he did so. "...needless to say, they don't have one anymore." Words were spoken calmly while his gaze shifted from his hand and to those ghostly, lavender hues of the teenager. Chad looked concerned. It really wasn't that big of a deal, at least not in Ace's opinion. The blood had belonged to the dog, and not to him, after all. But it seemed as though he couldn't refuse the boy's unspoken demand to remove the leather jacket and let him have a closer look.

The freelancer slipped himself free from the heavy leather and was actually slightly surprised at what his left forearm looked like right about now. His own facial features mimicked Chad's with a very similar wince. Though the site of the bite mostly consisted of bruising, the dog's canines had penetrated the leather and punctured the skin. It honestly looked worse than it really was, but the bit of his own blood that had welled from the pierced skin was smeared by the lining of the sleeve, giving the whole thing a rather messy appearance. Ace made no attempt at withdrawing the limb once Chad seemed set on cleaning the area with the peroxide. Of course it wasn't entirely pleasant, for either one of them really. The sympathetic look on the young male's face was accompanied by the tightening of the redhead's jaws when he felt the tingling sting of the antibacterial solution trickle into the damaged tissue. Fingers twitched from the sensation initially until he grew more accustomed to it. "Thanks." It was strange, really... having someone other than himself taking care of his injuries. "What about you? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Dark red eyebrows drew together in a gesture suggesting either worry or guilt. "Did you talk to Carmon? I'd hate to think that she's still running around looking for you..." Yes, he was asking a fair amount of questions, but the simple act of speaking caused the Italian hybrid to relax a bit. That became visible in the gradual dropping of his shoulders as muscles unwound. While he spoke, Ace kept a pensive gaze fixed on Chad's hand as it wiped away the last remnants of crimson. It was definitely a step in a different direction... Strangely, even after the events of this morning, Chad hadn't hesitated a single second to display concern and offer his help in caring for the injury. What the redhead found even stranger however, was the fact that for the first time, in a long time, he wasn't bothered by the vulnerability brought on by this injury... but instead, he actually felt a sense of relief and even comfort.

Chad: The cotton ball continued on its path around the bite, slowly and gently cleansing the area from the dried mess. It was surprising though just how gentle those slender almost boney fingers were being. Most would never set that term in the same sentence with the youth's name. As Ace spoke about what had caused the injury Chad would keep his eye's on the task at hand. "Did you see if it was wearing any tags? You should prolly go get a rabies shot just in case." That was no joking matter. Especially when you've witnessed first hand just what the disease did to the human body.

Chad shifted the grip he had on the older males arm, peering closely at the puncture wound with those sharp eye's. Huffing something under his breath his attention would drift back towards his own personal First Aid kit. The youth seemed a little caught off guard by Ace's question about his own well being. "Huh? Oh no, no you didn't hurt me." Not much anyways. Chad wasn't about to make the Italian hybrid feel any worse than he already did. Besides the physical discomfort honestly hadn't been that bad. What truely had hurt was the suddeness and unexpected assult of memory's that were associated to such a hold. "Just a heads up by the way. In case you ever have to scope out an area where there's a guard dog. Make sure you bring some treats next time."

A new cotton ball replaced the soiled one as the short male continued to gently mop up blood that both did and didn't belong to Ace. "It helps if you slip a sleeping pill or tranq into it too. No harm, no foul." Once more that adjustment of grip came around though this seemed in response more along the lines of Chad picking up on the unspoken discomfort. He could feel the way the muscles were quivering ever so slightly under the others skin. It also helped that he remembered having their situations reversed once before. Angling the Italians arm Chad tried to peer a bit closer at the bite, trying to make sure it was properly clean before a frustrated grunt pushed through his throat. It was no use..he was going to have to use those "Don't move...in face here just hold these." Dropping a few alcohol pads still wrapped in their packages into Ace's hand Chad would start to dig through his backpack once more.

When he finally found the object of his searching he would withdraw the slender hard case. Easily slipping it open those delicate glasses he rarely wore unless necessary were pulled free and slid up onto his face. Setting the case down he would turn his attention back to the others injury glad he was actually able to see it much more clearly now. A few minutes were spent in silence as Chad continued to clean the oozing wound with the peroxide covered cotton ball. A simple nod of his head was given to Ace's question. "Yeah..She called me earlier. We got together and talked for a little while. Actually she came up with a really good idea on getting us into this thing. Did you find out if they're going to be setting up for another get together this week or not?"

Gazing through the thin glass perched on his nose those pale oculars would finally give their assent to the condition the wound now resided as. Easily tossing those two soiled cotton balls over towards his small trash can the kid didn't even pause to see if they made it in or not (though they easily did) Packaging was ripped open to provide gauze pads which settled themselves on the youths thigh before he grabbed a simple tube of what looked to be neosporin, or a generic version of that. It was gently squirted onto the tip of his finger along with a gel from another none discript tube, this one having no lable. Turning his attention back to that bite wound Chad would start to tenderly smear that clearish gel substance over the puncture wounds with a ghostly like touch.

When finished the youth would carefully pick up that pre opened patch of gauze before settling it gently over the area of need. Once happy with its placement Chad would start to wind a wrapping around the arm to assure it would stay in place and remain closed off so nothing could get in to cause infection. Granted he had taken good enough care of it that there was very little chance of any sort of bacteria to slip in. Two small pieces of medical tape were used to hold the wrapping down before the youth plucked one of the alcohol pads from Ace's hands so he could concentrate on cleaning off the rest of the blood that was stubbornly clinging to the man's wrist and hand. Easily moving the arm first one way and then the other while rotating the wrist so he could get every bit left behind.

As those bespectacled eye's gave one last sweep of the red heads arm Chad would do a final scrub of his fourth pad between Ace's finger and thumb before allowing himself to consider the job done. Gathering up everything soiled he would easily slip off the couch and throw it all away in his small can only to turn his attention on cleaning up. After a few moments he would glance over at Ace as fingers lifted up to pull the slender glasses from his face "Stay here for a second I gotta get something." When assured that Ace wasn't going anywhere Chad would snag a smoke out of the pack that was resting on his coffee table, a quick flick of a lighter and he was puffing contentedly on the niccotine. It didn't take him long to slip out of the room, fetch the bag he had left in Ace's room only to return. Flopping himself down on the couch he would set the bag next to the Italian before he started to speak. "I'm only saying this now because I don't want you caught off guard about it. Besides the last time we didn't exchange information the both of us got caught in a rather....embaressing situation."

Pale cheeks flushed ever so slightly before the tan colored filter was slipped between his lips so that his lungs could pull air in through that burning paper cylinder. "Anyways, Carmon has this great idea...one I'm not entierly thrilled with but can't debunk considering it is a pretty sound plan. She wants me playing bait....And considering just who our targets are turning out to be...yeah." A heavy sigh filled the air around Chad's face with gray smoke before he poked the bag "That's your outfit, I'm gonna have to take one of the earings into Cipher to see if their technology department can place a small speaker and reciver in it. That way we can keep in contact even if we get seperated."

Ace: Ace shifted his weight to angle his body more toward the young male seated beside him. With this motion, the unwounded, right arm was draped over the back-rest of the couch. Chad spoke, while stroke after careful, cleansing stroke was placed onto bruised and bloodied skin. As the hybrid listened to every word that was spoken, golden-green eyes began to drift until they stared blankly into the open space of the room. He rolled the unpleasant idea of getting a rabies shot through his thoughts for a short moment before he moved on to weighing the pros and cons of lacing dog treats with tranquilizers. "Dog roofies, huh?" Lids blinked slowly once or twice when he felt the sensation of the cold, moist, cotton being slipped between each of his fingers. His focus remained fixed on some random spot on the wall as though his mind were caught in the dazing web of a pleasant daydream. "That's a good idea in the right situation... when you know for a fact that you and the dog are gonna be the only ones on the property for a while... or when you need it to stay quiet and not alert anyone." Ace paused that rugged voice for a brief moment, feeling Chad's thin fingers release their grip around his left hand only to start wiping at the dog's blood on the other hand. Guess the kid didn't like the sight of the crimson gore on him, regardless of whether or not it belonged to the hybrid.

Goosebumps began to creep up the length of that limb and to his spine, where he had to fight off the involuntary urge to shiver. "When I was over there looking around, an unmarked, white moving truck pulled up to unload some cargo. My guess it technical equipment, but it doesn't really matter. In any case, imagine the shit-storm it could have caused if they found the dog passed the fuck out cold instead of it doing its job... They would have known on the spot that something wasn't right. Last thing we want is to give them a reason to cancel this gig." He felt the last stroke of moist cotton against skin and finally shifted his eyes back to Chad, who had gotten up to dig through his backpack, all the while talking about how he and Carmon had exchanged words. Ace simply remained still in his seated position. Downstairs, the doors opened and closed. Dane's voice trickled through the floorboards and crept indiscernibly up the staircase into the hallway. Either the dark-haired, bearded barkeep was going insane and was having conversation with himself, or he was on the phone with somebody. The latter of those two explanations was probably the more likely scenario.

Chad had started going to work on the bite with a tube of gel and some cotton swabs. Ace's arm relaxed in the youth's grip, but it was fairly short lived. With a scoff of frustration, Chad ceased his treatment process and returned once more to his backpack. A raised, pierced eyebrow pulled the hybrid's expression into a puzzled one. He couldn't quite see what his young companion was doing, though once Chad turned back toward him, it became quite clear what he had gone to retrieve. This was the first time that Ace had actually had the opportunity to come face to face with the adolescent while his silver-rimmed spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose. The redhead studied him as Chad went back to applying the antiseptic gel to the bruised puncture wounds. In the past, Ace had seen Chad wear those glasses on very rare occasions while he hunched over his studies, but other than that, the young male seemed to avoid wearing them completely. They didn't look bad, and actually accented the thin, angular contours of his face. Honestly, Ace thought that this task didn't require nearly this much precision, but he wasn't about to argue with his pale-haired counterpart. Instead, he just held as still as possible and allowed Chad to do whatever it was he thought necessary. The ex-hitman actually exhibited a genuine feeling of appreciation to be on the receiving end of such diligence from the kid, despite the fact that he wasn't sure if he actually deserved such treatment right about now. "Yeah, I found out a couple of things. It's funny, but I wouldn't have gotten my hands on any of this info if that dog hadn't started chasing me." Fingers of his right hand drummed idly against the back of the couch as he spoke, and calmly watched Chad apply the pad of gauze over the treated wound. "They're already setting up for the next event as we speak... which is tomorrow by the way. 11:30 PM is what I was told. The password is 'Pandemonium'..."

Once the ashen-haired youth was completely finished taping the gauze pad securely in place, Ace inspected the patch-job by turning the limb from side to side and flexing his fingers into a fist to make sure the tape wasn't too constricting. Satisfied, he turned the focus of his summer-meadow gaze back to Chad as the corners of his lips tugged into a content smile. "Thanks, it feels better already." He began by saying while he watched the youth's slender fingers move to pull the glasses from his face. "So...Why don't you elaborate on Carmon's stroke-of-genius idea a little more...because I've got the strangest feeling that it's gonna border on the unconventional." It was then that Chad slid his small body from the couch, pulled a cigarette from his pack, and instructed the hybrid to wait while he went to retrieve something from the other room. Ace's eyebrow twitched curiously, but with a simple shrug of his shoulders, he obeyed. Not like he was in a particular hurry to get up anyway, he was enjoying the opportunity to relax while he could. While Chad was out of the room, Ace reached into his jacket that was draped over the back of the couch beside him and plucked out a cigarette of his own. From the same pocket, he also carefully pulled the ziploc containing the three nicely rolled blunts. While he was at it, he also retrieved that black, leather, ID bracelet from yet another pocket. He'd almost completely forgotten that he had tucked it away there after having found it a few hours earlier. With a stretch and a lean, he placed the items onto the dark surface of the coffee table before he took a deep drag of his cigarette and relaxed back against the comfortable cushions.

A short moment later, Chad returned carrying a rather large bag in one of his bony hands. Ace shifted his weight once more when the young male spilled himself back onto the couch beside him after he had sat the bag down . The redhead's curiosity was piqued now, it was visible in every inch of his features, but before he proceeded to look inside the paper folds of the large bag, he listened carefully to Chad's precautionary warning. So, Carmon wanted a covert operation and Chad was to be the bait. This immediately gave the freelancer a hunch that the Captain most likely had a couple of tricks up her sleeve that were to be revealed later... otherwise she wouldn't have suggested a move this bold. "You think you'll be able to handle it?" Ace was certain, without a doubt, that the young male could pull it off, but he wanted to hear it from Chad himself; to see whether or not he shared the same level of confidence in his abilities. He'd seen the kid's bizarre circus act that night at Diamond's and it had been almost frightening just how convincing the youth could be. Oddly enough, as if Chad's ghostly eyes had looked straight into his thoughts, the events of that night were now brought up to serve as a reminder that communication was a crucial key to both success and keeping themselves out of horribly awkward situations.

The blushing blood stained the pale, youthful cheeks which caused Ace to remember just how dreadfully ashamed Chad had been. A little chuckle rose from the half-Italian's throat. "You're right. No secrets this time. If you have to do anything that isn't part of the plan, I trust you to let me know, so that I can back you up... The same goes for me, of course." Once Ace was certain that Chad had acknowledged and understood this statement, he finally shifted his focus down to the bag. While his left hand still held on to his cigarette, the right hand reached inside and fished out the various items one by one. Ace wasn't really sure what to say at first. Lips were slightly parted, slowly leaking a thin trail of smoke while he tried to take it all in. At last, his head lowered while he let out a little snicker and pinched the bridge of his nose between long, slender fingers. "Un uccello che vola all’altezza del culo..." He chuckled again before rubbing the back of his hand across his brow. Did he just swear in Italian? "If this is supposed to be my outfit... then I'm dying to see what you'll be wearing." Ace wasn't angry, nor really seemed irritated. Actually, he appeared to be a strange combination of too perplexed and entertained to be frustrated or bothered by any of it. The cigarette was put out in the ashtray on the coffee table before he picked up one of the knee-high, lace-up, leather combat boots. "The whole thing is kinda whack... but these.... these are right up my alley. They're practically perfect." A mischievous little grin parted his lips as he placed all the items back into the big bag. "Okay, I gotta make a phone call to Carmon and get a beer. Do me a favor and light one of those up meanwhile, will ya?" He gestured to the ziploc bag on the tabletop as he moved his body to stand from the couch. And with that, he plucked his phone from the pocket of his jeans and sauntered from the adolescent's room.

Chad: Chad would relax back onto his couch while pulling legs towards his body in a half assed indian pose. It was always odd to see how easily it was for him to slip into positions that looked increadibly painful yet at the same time he made the motions look graceful. It was like watching a cat sleep or something. "Its not like I can't handle it..its more like I just don't like the stuation she's putting me in. It's too similar to a lot of shit I've had to deal with already. Pretty sure my therapist wouldn't agree with a stitch of this." The grumbles came through with a tinge of some unidentifiable emotion but it was rappidly waved away before Chad spotted those god given gifts laying on the table. Hello you!

Reaching out he would grasp the baggie and slip free one of the blunts. Gazing at it for a few moments before it was brought up under his nose. Jesus Christ! This was no mear mid's that Ace had deposited so casually onto his coffee table. Another sniff was given, was that...were these Purple Haze? Smelt similar enough though it seemed to hold wiffs of Piff as well. A true grin crossed his marred features then before he settled the wrapped goodness between his lips. A simple flick of the lighter later had the youth happily puffing on the strong fumes. An eyebrow was perked when those foreign words spilled from the red heads mouth "What the fuck was that? Did you just speak spanish or something?"

Cheeks would flush once more before a hard shake of his head was given "Nope, you don't get to see shit. Fuck I don't even wanna look at what she bought me unless I absolutely have to." It seemed Chad wasn't about to budge an inch in that regards and eagerly shifted the topic to the boots that Ace was handling. "I thought you'd like those. I bought your stuff myself but those, well they were sorta meant as a personal gift. Pretty much the same reason you got me this." Slender fingers would reach out to gently tap the ocarina in its protective case before he waved Ace away when the hybrid said something about calling Carmon and getting a drink "Don't take to long, I'll smoke the whole thing if you do."

Ace: Ace couldn't help but mimic that genuine grin. He wasn't about to admit it in front of the whole known world, but he actually relished in those rare, true displays of positive emotions Chad displayed so seldomly. No, his therapist probably wouldn't approve of this... most likely none of it. And what 'doctor' in their right mind would actually condone a 17 year old living with two other males a decade older than him...in a bar... working odd-jobs for a private militia whilst slowly working his way up on the shit-list of the Russian Mafia? Hell, I doubt anyone in their right mind would really deem such things as positive, but then again, the mindset of the 'sane' was always a much too boring place to be when it came to the redhead's personal opinion. So there he sat, across from Chad, who inspected the treats in the Ziploc like a drug-hound that caught a scent. A little chuckle bubbled from his throat when the kid stuck the joint between his lips and went for the lighter. It was strange, he thought, how that simple gesture of a genuine smile had managed to alleviate that last remnant of tension left in him. All he really wanted now was a cold beer on his tongue, and the herbal-bliss therapy from one of those blunts the pink-haired girl had given him. He'd thank the dog for it later....
"It's Italian.... not Spanish. Close enough though, I guess. Imagine how you'd feel if a bird suddenly flew up your ass, and you'll get the gist..." A simple shrug of bare shoulders was given while cut-off black shirt seams rose and fell with the motion. the gesture seemed to work in conjunction to the blushing cheeks and Chad's refusal to let the hybrid get so much as a glimpse of the awkward outfit that he'd be wearing to this inevitable event. God, he hoped there'd be drugs involved... "Ah well, I'll get to see it sooner or later. I can wait... " A mischievous little smirk graced his features for a moment, though vanished again rather quickly when the youth made mention that the outfit which was selected for him had actually been chosen and paid for by none other than Chad himself. Curiously, the freelancer's head tilted, watching Chad's small digits reach out to tap against the protective case of the ocarina he'd bought just a short while ago. That snake-charming smirk returned once more as he offered a nod in return. The room was already beginning to smell of the musky scent just two puffs into the damned thing. "They'll be put to good use, I guarantee it." And with that, the hybrid wasted no more time.

Once he reached downstairs, he found Dane behind the bar, ranting and raving about a brand new pair of gloves.... how they had the perfect fit, with just enough give, yet just the right amount of support... the man might as well have been a teenage girl going on and on about the latest Victoria's Secret product. Ace was already on the phone by the time he reached the bottom of the steps, otherwise he might have actually answered his friend's questions of 'Where the hell did these come from?' and 'What the hell happened to your arm?!'... But alas, these inquiries were dismissed with a reassuring wave of the hand as he spoke with Carmon regarding the information he had been able to gather regarding the rave. All the while, Ace sifted through the large refrigerator to pick out the beer he wanted, plus one more for his young friend upstairs, though he wasn't quite certain if Chad fancied the taste of a Belgian Blonde. It was a sweet ale, brewed with honey, pear and peaches. "Okay, so you'll come by tomorrow afternoon with some other stuff?... Oh goodie... Hope it's better than the outfits; nice touch, by the way.... Anyway, I've got shit to do, so I'll see ya whenever you get here... bye now." The phone conversation lasted just long enough for him to grab what he wanted to from the kitchen/bar, blow-off Dane in the process, and head back upstairs to the bedroom he'd left not too long ago. Both beers were held in his left hand, despite the slight amounts of discomfort while his right tucked the phone away into his jeans pocket. "Well, we've got some time to kill. Apparently Carmon is a step ahead of you on that whole 'voice transmitter' thing, so we just have to sit tight 'til tomorrow afternoon." The bottle of honey-colored brew was handed to Chad with those words and exchanged for the started blunt between small fingers as the large hybrid flopped back down lazily into the same spot on the couch where he had sat before. The slightly dampened edges of the rolling papers were brought to his lips while he inhaled his first hit. Suck, hold, choke, swallow, exhale.... it was a sequence, though he really wasn't used to it anymore.... nor anything quite this potent. Three nice drags later, Ace passed the marijuana cigarette back to Chad and leaned back against the crook where the armrest of the couch met the back cushions. "Nothing happened, by the way.... " He paused briefly, golden-green eyes scanning the parameter of the room for where he'd left his pack of cigarettes. "... between me and Carmon, I mean.... I still wanna know the dick-bag she was dating who cheated on her... Seriously... who does that to a woman like her?!" Oh yes, as much as Ace gave her shit, and as much as he teased and antagonized her for random things here and there, he still had quite a bit of respect for the lady. It generally never came out in day-to-day conversation, but this was a bit different was it not? The bottle was brought to his lips and with a tilt of his wrist and an angle of his head, the carbonated alcoholic beverage splashed over his tongue, complimenting the residual flavor of the 'herbal' smokes quite nicely.

Chad: The mild buzz was starting to settle into the back of his head, it always started there when Chad indulged in this particular pleasentry and given just how strong the stuff was the kid was finding it to be highly enjoyable even after a few puffs. He would wave Ace out of the room while lips kept a hold of the blunt. Itwas a mild realization that the pot was actually dulling the incessent pain that normally echoed in his back. Maybe he could talk his doctor into getting him off those fucked up pills. Wondering thoughts continued to travel before deciding that though he hated the medication it was a nessisary evil. If only they could find a proper balance that would help fight the pain yet leave him lucid enough to function normally.

When Ace came back holding not just one drink but two Chad would quirk an eyebrow before accepting the brew and exchanging it for the wrapped drug. Twisting the top off a tentitive sniff was taken, a habit that Chad always seemed to perform no matter if it was a liquid or a solid he was about to partake of. Ingrained precaution left over from his life on the streets apparently. At least no one had asked him about it yet. Reaching up he would pluck his glasses off of his head before letting them slide down enough so he could read the small print on the label. A few moments of that was followed by a testing sip only to have an approving grunt made along with a larger gulp. Oh this was pretty good actually. A nice blend of sweet with a hint of bitter and tartness. Definitely a drink he could go for.

Turning his head Chad would accept the blunt back for his turn in the rotation while letting shoulders shrug. "She explained it. I just..shit man I should of asked you about it first. I mean this life is hard for me, not that you and Dane don't try to make it that way but.." He trailed off for a moment with a faint scowl on his face "Its hard to explain and I'm not tryin' to make excuses or anything." The youth seemed to have forgotten his spectacles were still resting on his nose as he allowed himself several more puffs before passing it back. "I shouldn't of hit you regardless."

Ace: Ace felt the buzz begin to wash over him; the tingle of the head-change slowed racing thoughts and began to dull the lingering pain and soreness exhibited by various parts of his body. He watched Chad's expression turn into a little dead-pan scowl. That smile slowly vanished like the light of a dying star. The freelancer's lips did muchly the same as he sat there, thinking about what Chad had said just then. It made sense, really. It had to be difficult for the kid to go from a lifestyle that had him struggling to barely stay alive to whatever this was... But it wasn't like Ace had come from the perfect conditions either. For the last 2 years, he'd shut himself off from everyone but Carmon, and even the occasional, random one-night stand meant nothing more than a means to an end. No new friendships were forged, emotions were kept to himself, and commitments of any kind were completely avoided. Living out of a hotel room so that at any minute, he could have no issues packing up and hitting the road. And the years before that?... Well, he didn't even want to think about it right now. Shaking the memories of those years from his mind, he allowed eyelids to fall shut briefly as his harsh expression softened. Then, he leaned forward and reached for that joint being passed back to him. "Hey, it's okay now. Engrained instincts are hard to control, I get it... It happened, it's done.... I'll be fine. " He began by saying as he took another puff and held the spiced smoke in his lungs until he couldn't anymore; then let it out. "I know what you mean, man. It feels really... out of place... to be with people who are... human... who I can trust not to let me fall whenever I become an inconvenience...I was never sure if you'd actually stick around with me this long. But I'm glad you did... even if it means getting a head-check every now and then. " He chuckled softly and passed the joint back and took another drink from his beer. The buzz was definitely settling in, and he felt his entire body begin to relax in waves of comforting warmth. "Now wipe that scowl off your face... and by the way..." He lifted a hand to tap an index finger against the bridge of his own nose a couple of times as a gesture to remind Chad that the spectacles were still resting on his face. Of course the redhead understood perfectly that the lenses were improving the youth's vision, though there was a strange sense of separation he felt whenever he had to look through them to make contact with the other's unique lavender oculars; like he was trying to look through some filter that would somehow skew what they were trying to convey.

Chad: Chad curled up on his side of the couch, leaning against the arm as he pushed at the decritive pillow to be better situatied behind his back. When Ace started tapping at his nose a confused look crossed those scared features as well as a faint tilt of the head to the left. "Wha...oh..oh thanks." Fingers lifted to gently grasp the fragile frames as they were slipped from his face. Folding the arms he would lean towards the coffee table so that they could be set there for safe keeping. Resuming his position he would accept the smoldering blunt back before toking on it, allowing the heavy fumes to fill his lungs to capacity before it came out in a slight rush since his body didn't honestly want it in his system. Coughing lightly he would lift a hand to cover his face before wiping at his lips and bringing the sweet beer up for a sip and then another toke. "Did you see if Dane found his gift when you went down there?"

Ace: He let out another soft chuckle, corners of his lips curled into a content little smile. Fingers of his left hand combed through his mess of red hair as the right swished she amber liquid around in the dark glass bottle. "Oh yeah. He's got eyes like a kid in a candy store right now. He used to have a pair almost exactly like that, but my sister's dog ate 'em. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes up here any minute to rave about how much he loves 'em." That hand which had been playing in the soft strands of his hair lowered to tap a bent index finger against his chin. "Did I tell you we're putting a sauna in the basement? ...or did I just dream that?"

Chad: Chad had been busy sipping from his drink after passing the joint back when Ace made mention of the sauna. Blinking in surprise that bottle was lowered before attention was pushed fully onto the italian "Seriously? Like your not joking with me about this?" If Ace was indeed serious Chad could already find himself imaging how specific hours of his day would be set aside just for the relaxation that a sauna could grant him. Not to mention how much good it would end up doing his poor back

Ace: Ace's pierced eyebrow raised the slightest bit at the youth's surprise, though seeing that face light up again filled him with a rewarding sense of gratification. Guess he must have dreamt it after all. Reaching out for the nearly spent joint, he took it between his fingers and went for another toke. "No joke, man." He began by saying, each expelled syllable laced with thick smoke. "When you started talking about how the heat helps your back, I had an idea... Get a sauna, you get your heat, and Dane can stop flipping his shit about the bathroom all the time." He offered a small shrug and with the last bit of a puff, the joint was spent. He leaned over to drop the roach into the ashtray on the coffee table, all the while bearing a signature smirk. "Everybody wins." He finally said after he'd held the last bit of smoke in his lungs and finally released it.

Chad: The youth was content enough to sip at hs beer as he sat there listening to the italian. So Ace really had been listening to him. Which brought back to memory just how much of a douch he had been, then again he had nearly died in one of the ways he feared the most. Just the thought of those cold icy waters filling his throat caused a shiver to run down his spine. no no no no no thinking about that right now. Reaching for his smokes he would pull free a menthol before looking at the pack and then tossing one at Ace "It increases the high." Setting flame to the tip of the smoke he would then light his companions before finally settling again "But...I like it when Dane's flipping his shit..its funny, he's funny." Chad snickered at the rememberance of their last altercation over the bathroom which left Dane red in the face

Ace: The freelancer was a little slow to react when the cigarette was tossed toward him. He didn't even attempt to catch it. Looking down to pick it up from where it had landed on his chest, he pleaced the cylinder between his lips and didn't even notice Chad leaning forward with the lighter until he glanced back up again. Ace paused briefly, locking slightly glassy golden-green eyes to those lavender hues of the other. Dane always tried his best to light his cigarettes whenever he could. This, however, was a first. Though with a lingering grin, the redhead let the flame ignite the tobacco as he took his first, savory drag. Menthol wasn't normally his cup of tea, but he wasn't about to complain about it...especially if what Chad had said was true. "Thanks." Listening to what the adolescent said next had Ace actually laughing out loud. It started as a chuckle, but grew into a full-fledged laugh. It was rare, really, hearing him laugh freely like this nowadays, but it felt good...liberating in a sense. "Yeah... he's funny all right... Especially that weird goatee thing he's got going all the time..." His voice paused briefly as he took another drag and a swig of his beverage. "You'll find other things to get him flipping his shit over, trust me. Like if you take the crossword puzzles outta his newspapers... Or when he can't find the perfect matching pair of socks even though they're all fucking black anyway... That's why he won't let anybody else touch his laundry." Ace couldn't help but chuckle again and took another puff of the smoke. "So what about you? Got any weird quirks like that?" He shifted his weight slightly when he felt himself sliding down on the couch a bit too much. God, he hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time. That girl with the pink hair definitely hadn't lied about the stuff they'd just smoked. It was fantastic.

Chad: Snickering slipped from between his lips along with a cloud of smoke as Ace laughed brightly "Oh god I know..I mean is it just me or does it look like he has a batman fetish considering the shape he keeps it?" Fingers pushed against his chin in a mockery of the facial hair before he started to laugh just as freely as Ace was. It was a high sound, and though he would deny it to the day he died it was almost like a child's laughter. When told about Dane's particular quirks it was obvious that Ace had just set the stage for future shenanigans to be played out. A nod of those ash gray locks was given as a sip of his beer was taken "I can't stand dog eared books and someone singing something out of tune. That shit drives me fucking nuts. Smudges on my glasses too."

Ace: His laughter had died down only to start right back up again when Chad's bony little fingers pushed against his chin in a mocking resemblance of Dane's "beard". "Holy fuck, you're right!" Words came out between breaths of laughter. "They're bats!" He was laughing so hard his abs were starting to hurt. "...we can't stop here... This is bat country!" A bit of a Fear and Loathing reference slipped from him there as moisture welled at the outer corners of each eye. Had he ever even heard the kid genuinely laugh before? Huh... quite possibly not. But this was definitely a sound he would remember until the day he was put to rest. At last the redhead settled down a bit and cleared his throat before inhaling another breath of cancerous fumes. "Guess it's a good thing I don't sing, then." He chuckled again and thought for a moment. Might as well spill something about himself too, since Chad had so freely reaponded to his question. "I don't like it when one of my boots are laced tighter than the other... And coffee at room temperature... and when people stand too close when they're talking to me... Ya know... those personal-space invaders.... Oh, and the smell of boiled brussel sprouts! Can't fucking stand it!" Ace shuddered at the mere though, but kept his overall calm, relaxed, and humorous demeanor.

Chad: That laughter continued and only grew stronger at the quote from Ace causing him to wrap an arm around his waist as those peals grew louder. "Oh oh god...dude..would that make you like Bane or Dent?" Fingers lifted to rub a tear from one ghostly colored ocular "I'd totes be Joker, shit that would make Carmon Cat woman." He would pause for a moment, sniggers still on his lips "Yeah...I can see her in the outfit." Taking a deep breath Chad would calm down from the spontanious laughter that had sprung up between the two of them, more than likely aided by the THC flooding their systems. "Carrots..I can't stand them. Ma never was able to get me to eat them. But only when their cooked. Something about the texture" A face was made which included his tongue being stuck out. "I hate walking into spider webs and squirrells. The little fuckers skeeve me out for some reason."

The redhead couldn't stop his abs from spasming with laughter. It actually hurt a little, considering the blow to the solar plexus he'd taken earlier...but it was minute and actually felt kinda good. He felt alive and content. He managed to catch his breath long enough to carry on with the batman subject, waving the cigarette bearing hand in a dismissive gesture. "Oh man, I'll take Bane over Dent any day. I don't do politics... I'd rather choke on a condom than have to deal with all that B.S. every day." Ace chuckled and took another sip from his beer, chest still heaving with residual laughter. But when Carmon was likened to the image of Cat Woman, the hybrid almost choked on that drink but managed to swallow it down before coughing a couple of times. "Yeah... I can see that one too..." A little crooked smirk pulled its way across his lips. "Oh man, why'd you have to put that picture in my head??" Ace shook his head facetiously and took another drag form the menthol. Yeah... that mental image was gonna be stuck in his mind for a while. The redheaded hybrid felt like he could just melt into that couch right about now; like a puddle of gelatinous goo slowly becoming one with the fibers through the mind-blowing powers of osmosis... or something like that... Golden green eyes stared off into space as his mind wandered momentarily. Dane was playing music on the jukebox downstairs, probably a sign that he was in a good mood. What were they talking about again? Was there something about a squirrel? Ace blinked a couple of times before shifting his focus back to the youth, who looked to be just about as comfortable as he was himself. The thought of those fluffy-tailed tree-rats had caused his mind to stray from the thought of Carmon wearing skin-tight leathers and taken a U-turn somewhere down memory lane to the time just after he had picked Chad up from the hospital. They had pulled over in the park down the street to have a little chat on that lovely early spring day... but it had until this day felt like a very one-sided conversation, with many loose and frayed ends that were in some need of mending. Glazed eyes focused on partially lidded lavender hues while he took the last drag from that smoke and leaned over lazily to snuff it out in the ashtray. "Hey Chad... mind if I ask ya something?" He returned himself to that comfortable lounge, resting the half-empty (or half full) glass bottle on his thigh while the silver band he wore on his right index finger idly tapped the quiet rhythm of the music that drifted up from downstairs.

He continued to chuckle as he lifted the sweat beer to his lips. The stuff tasted pretty good if he had to admit it. That plus the addition of the nicely filled blunt and the company could be considered pleasent. This was what he had needed. Just some time to kick back and relax, not have to worry about anything, not have to let his mind run five thousand different directions. Just some time where he could enjoy a drink, ease up thanks to the herb and actually get to be himself for once.

His hand was going for another cig, he felt like one so why not. Chad had no clue about what was going on in Ace's head or where the train of thought was leading the red head. But when the question was asked Chad didn't really think twice about answering. "About what?" It perked his curiosity considering that Ace never asked questions..or asked about if he could ask one. Letting his smoke dangle between his lips the youth twisted on the couch so he could lean forward. His hands were reaching for a piece of clay he had slowly been shaping.

It was taking the form of some serpant, a cobra of sorts that were wrapped around what looked to be a log if the texturing was any clue. His thumbs smoothed over the hooded head before he picked up what looked to be a little screwdriver but with a flattened angled head to it. Carefully he would start to scrape away slivers of flesh to add definition to the scaling, adding in facial features such as eye's and nostrils. Every now and then he would scrap a bit away from the hole in the back of the snakes parted jaws. It seemed that was going to be the exit hole for the air. Already the detailing on the piece was beyond remarkable, even though the clay fangs were thin they retained their shape and curve.