Last Resort

[Tom Harriman]

The brakes squeaked a little as the Impala came to a gentle halt, gravel crunching beneath her tires. A faint hint of a grimace tugged at the edges of Tom's features; the car was older than he was, and while he had gone to great lengths to keep her in the best condition possible, her previous owners had not been quite so gentle. Keeping her purring was like balancing a giant stack of cards: even one tiny twitch of a problem could bring everything toppling down into a gigantic bank-breaking heap.

Still, it wasn't something that Tom needed to worry about: not for the next 72 hours, at any rate. He leaned forward, peering through the windshield at the sign that proudly welcomed them to the Ceres Regency Spa & Resort: the finest holiday establishment in New Mexico that offered a respectable discount to employees of Treadstone Industries. This weekend, the stressful chaos of Los Angeles was a few hundred miles out of sight and even further out of mind. For three days, everything he needed to worry about was sitting with him in this car.

He turned to Alice, and offered her a smile. His organs had curled up into a little knot in the pit of his stomach as soon as they'd crossed the border into New Mexico; he couldn't even begin to imagine how Alice must be feeling. Hopefully though, it wasn't something that a few hours in the spa couldn't fix.

The driver side door groaned open, and Tom clambered stiffly out, thoroughly regretting that he'd passed up the opportunity to stop at a diner for lunch an hour and a half ago. His stomach was fine, but if he didn't find his way to a bathroom soon, there'd be problems.

Alice's door clunked closed; Tom's followed suit. The slightly too-quick third clunk made his stomach knot wriggle, not just because of the indelicate treatment of his beloved car, but because of what that third door slam meant. He'd hoped that they could leave everything behind in California, but as Katrina had so eloquently pointed out, "What kind of jerk brother would leave his baby sister alone with all this shit that's going on?"

Alice had sided with Kat, of course; maybe out of female unity, maybe because it stopped this being their first "weekend alone" together. Either way, Kat was here, and Tom's credit card was getting billed for two rooms, two spa treatments, and double the sneaky unexpected costs.

Thank god Treadstone pays well, he mused.

[Alice Kelly]

Getting out of Los Angeles, out of California as whole seemed like a great plan. Civic unrest was a nice way of putting it, and while Alice had absolutely no intentions of joining any sort of that madness, she couldn't help but feel effected by it. The whole situation made her uncomfortable and unsure and.... well, as soon as Tom had suggested getting away from it all, she had practically jumped at the chance. Of course, the more that it had been planned, the more it made that weird fidgety feeling in her chest well up and... well... Kat couldn't just be left alone in a city on the verge of rioting! Who would she watch late-night b-movie horror flicks with?

As the car pulled to a stop Alice stepped out, raising her arms above her head and stretching until she felt like the day's stiffness from sitting still was gone. The warm sunshine felt good as the last remaining days of summer stretched out across the New Mexico landscape. Another new place to add to her list.

As her arms dropped back to her sides she cast a smile back over her shoulder at Tom. She really did have to give him credit. This was going to be perfect. Well, at least as much as it could be, she figured.

[Kat Harriman]

Kat rolled her eyes, yet again. It seemed like her eyes spent more time rolled than they did looking forward, now that the whole mutual attraction thing wasn't such a big spooky mystery. Unfortunately, it seemed that Tom's deluded belief that he was successfully hiding his feelings was the only thing that stopped him from acting like a giant amorphous blob of pathetic sappiness. It was almost as if his entire concept of proper male romance conduct was based on cheesy American sitcoms from the nineties; which, she realised, probably was exactly the situation they were faced with.

Clearly not about to get any kind of help from Captain Lovestruck, she crunched her way across the gravel to the boot - trunk, she subconsciously corrected, part of her ongoing efforts to Americanize herself and make her foreign status a little harder to spot - creaked it open, and heaved out her surprisingly small but surprisingly weighty suitcase.

It was a talent that she had learned: one of the few useful skills that Jace had imparted in between his whole acting like a pretentious tool routine, and involved a lot of strategic folding, rolling, and wedging items into her shoes to make the best use of the available volume.

The suitcase handle clicked and extended half way before Kat realised that maybe the wheels and the gravel wouldn't work together all that well. Momentarily, that shifted her ire away from her brother and towards whoever had decided to surround the hotel with a moat of the most impractical suitcase transportation surface known to man. With a disapproving grunt she abandoned the trunk, scanned her surroundings for something that looked vaguely like a lobby entrance, and stomped off through the gravel like a woman on a mission.

"Come on, roomie," she added as she passed. "All this standing around is wasting precious luxury relaxing time."

[Alice Kelly]

An apologetic and slightly amused smile was offered to Tom before she shrugged her shoulder and followed Kat. There was an unspoken agreement about the whole arrangement that she had come to terms with. Maybe not the same one shared with the Harrimans but she was pretty sure they must have had a similar line of thought: No Drama. Even if that meant letting Katrina practically run the show. It was easier that way.

"So, what's up first? Pool? Spa? Raiding the mini fridge until your brother begs us to stop?" Another look over her shoulder gifted the older sibling with a sly smirk followed by an unspoken but mouthed apology.

[Tom Harriman]

A mantle of resignation weighed down a little on his shoulders. This was something that he had learned to cope with a long time ago: that Kat expected her brother's friends to be shared in the same way that his toys should be. Perhaps it was the age difference: the nine years between the younger two Harrimans was a pretty broad gap, but it provided Katrina with a subversive 'in' with older people, which was presumably worth a fair bit in terms of school girl popularity points. Or, maybe this time it was just the reaction of a girl in a relatively unfamiliar city, clinging tightly to the only other woman she really knew.

Tom knew he shouldn't judge; and knew that doing so would be explosively futile. At the end of the day, Alice and Katrina's well-being was one of his top priorities, and if a little stress-free girl time was what they wanted and needed, then that was what he'd let happen.

Even if it did mean he'd be spending most of the weekend alone in the hotel bar.

"I'll take care of check-in," he called, lingering by the car as Kat led Alice slowly away, trying his best to be the accommodating, facilitating brother that he was expected to be. "You girls have fun."

[Alice Kelly]

Enter that nervous twisting sensation once more. It wasn't that they were both oblivious to the other felt, not anymore, but things still had for the most part gone unsaid. Not that Alice had ever thought that words did anyone much good when it came to such things. The sight of Tom standing alone at the car, failing miserably to hide that look of - not disappointment, not bummed-out-ness, - Alice was having a hard time coming up with a word for it in that exact moment, really. But that look, caused something in her to question if she really should be playing into Kat's whims.

"Hey!" She called out and pointed directly at him as if aiming a weapon. "We'll catch up later. You still owe me dinner!"

Me. Not us. Not the girls. She hoped he would catch her meaning...and then started wondering if that had been too forward. A blush threatened to start creeping into her cheeks and she quickly turned away back to Kat, fully expecting the younger girl to suffer from another bout of eyes-to-the-ceiling.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom let the girls disappear from sight, and busied himself with the car. In theory that meant grabbing his own suitcase, and maybe snagging the odd half-empty water bottle so that they didn't end up going all weird and warm in the potentially stuffy car. In practice though, it involved the unpleasant task of clearing up some of the debris field of wrappers and teeny tiny bits of torn up paper that the bored and fidgeting Kat had apparently created. Clearly it was something she'd put a lot of effort into: creating this much mess in a relatively short length of time was impressive, and Tom was grateful that their road trip hadn't gone on any longer.

Transferring the debris from the floor mats to his jacket pockets, Tom hefted up the suitcase and trudged off in search of a trash can. He asked at reception when he checked in and grabbed the key cards for both rooms; but they'd looked at him like he was a crazy person. Apparently, litter was some alien concept that no guest at the hotel had ever created before. The barely older than teenage clerk had been sporting a really annoying neon-white zit right there in the corner of his nose too, which was not only distracting but also filled Tom with the overwhelming desire to lean across the desk and jab him in the face with a pin.

After politely declining the receptionist's offers of golf coaching, tennis coaching, and horse riding lessons, and then more firmly and adamantly declining them so his message would finally drill through the dim-witted youth's skull, he decided to try his luck in one of the rooms, hoping that maybe that would have some sort of bin technology going on. Alas it didn't, which seemed entirely absurd; frustrated beyond reason, Tom deposited the rubbish in a small heap on the dresser in his room, and set off in search of a place that would sell him alcohol.

Unfortunately, while his bar search was technically successful, the only one currently staffed was in the "entertainment room"; as was the ages eight to sixteen karaoke dance party, where every parent in half the state had decided to dump their talentless offspring. As a pair of blonde and pigtailed twins did their utmost to murder and out of sync rendition of Michael Jackson's Triller, Tom slumped himself over a stool, and gestured to the barman for a drink. What arrived in front of him was a clammy bottle of Bud Light: not the soothing pint of chilled ale he'd been hoping for.

Shoulder's sagging even further, Tom's entire body sighed.

[Solomon Latona]

"You think that's bad," muttered a voice from two stools over, "Just wait 'til you see what happens when you try and order whisky."

The man picked up his glass gingerly, nose wrinkling in displeasure at the contents. "Jack Daniels," he griped with a sigh of his own, shaking his head in dismay, "The Taco Bell of whiskies. It's cheap, and it's tolerable, but odds are you'll end up in the bathroom regretting it a few hours later."

Despite his complaints, the man tossed the contents of the glass down his throat in one go, features crunching into a wince as the drink cloyed at his taste buds. He gazed into the glass for a few quiet moments, before gently setting it down on the bar and turning to Tom, offering a flash of a smile. "But then, what else can you expect of something made in Tennessee?"

He breathed a single breath of laughter, gesturing to the barman for two fresh doubles. "Solomon," he introduced, sliding one of the glasses down the bar towards Tom. "You look like you could use a little cheap and tolerable."

[Tom Harriman]

At a loss for how to react, and his British upbringing cowering away from the American predilection for starting friendly conversations with strangers, all he managed to do was accept the glass and offer a nod of gratitude.

"Tom," he added as an afterthought, his manners eventually catching up to the situation.

Silence fell; or at least, the two sad and lonely grown men sitting alone at a bar fell silent: the cat-wailing of the karaoke kids continued on in the background. Some cocky kid who clearly thought he was far more talented than he actually was currently gracing the stage, getting way too into his George Michael impression. That presented a possible topic to fulfil Tom's obligations for casual conversation.

"One of those yours?" he asked, jerking a head of her his shoulder.

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon's first reaction was a quizzical frown, followed by a sudden eyebrow leap of realisation.

"The kids?" he asked, catching on. "No. God no," he stressed, perhaps a little too hard. He drew in a breath through his nose to reset his mind. "No kids. At least, not that I know of." A glimmer of mischief flashed on his features. "Am I right?"

Another double of Jack was sunk in a single gulp; something that might have seemed alarming were it not exactly what you'd expect a man with his particular accent to do. He propped his elbow onto the bar, the glass dangling in his fingertips as he stared off into the middle distance. "No kids; no wife; no real family to speak of. Hell -" He chuckled. "- I'm on vacation in a luxury resort with my sister, because apparently I 'need to get out more'."

He shifted a little on his seat, turning to face Tom more fully. "You?"

[Tom Harriman]

Tom couldn't help laughing at the irony. "I'm also here with my sister," he admitted with a rueful smile. "And Alice," he added quickly, "My -"

His face screwed up into a frown. My what?Friend? Roommate? Girlfriend? Was there even a label for what he and Alice were?

He sighed again. "To be honest, I'm not sure what we are. We live together, we both have feelings for each other, we've both admitted it to each other; but it always feels like there's something in the way, and it's not me she's sharing a room with, and I -"

He trailed off, frowning in surprise at himself. "Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to listen to my relationship woes."

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon let out a grunt. "I just spent seven hours in a car listening to my sister talk about nothing but makeup, shoes, and Jake Gyllenhaal. Anything is better than that."

He fell quiet again, his face contorted into an expression of contemplation. "Maybe she's a mutant?" he offered, off-hand. "Or pregnant. Or an alien. Or maybe she's a lesbian, and there's been a torrid affair going on between her and your sister all this time, and she just doesn't know how to break it to you."

A well-meaning smile twitching his lips. "Or, maybe there's just some baggage in her past; some bad ex relationship that's making her wary of jumping into another one."

He shrugged. "Whatever it is, I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready. Chicks love yakking about that sort of stuff."

[Tom Harriman]

Borderline sexist remark aside, Solomon kind of had a point. Whatever Alice's secret, or reason, or whatever it was that was fuelling her reluctance; it was her reason, and wasn't really any of his god damn business until she decreed that it was. No amount of effort or action on his part was going to expediate that; he'd just have to keep being patient.

Fortunately, he'd got plenty of practice.

Tom's gaze settled onto one of the many pamphlets strewn about the bar, once again drawing his attention to the world class golf course on the grounds of the resort. As his attention lingered however, the details of the club house began to sink in.

He snatched the pamphlet from the bar, and brandished it at Solomon.

"They have a golf club."

Solomon stared at him, blankly. Tom's voice became more insistent.

"Golf clubs have really good bars."

[Solomon Latona]

Realisation dawned on Solomon's expression.

"You sir, are a genius -" he replied, and in an instant he was on his feet. Hesitation flashed across his face as the fluids in his body resettled, and another realisation dawned. "- and I need to find a bathroom."

His eyes darted around the entertainment room, and settled on the sign he was searching for. "Don't go anywhere," he insisted, gesturing for Tom to stay put. "They don't let Texans into fancy places like that unless you're an oil tycoon, so I'm going to need you and that accent of yours to make me seem classy."

Without another word, Solomon strode off with determination, only allowing himself a moment of distraction to check out the mothers in the karaoke audience to see if any of them were even borderline hot. Sadly none were, which was disappointing: he hadn't laid eyes on anything attractive since his sister had informed him it was "creepy" to stand around watching women play tennis on the resort's courts. Solomon had protested "But, Wimbledon!", but apparently that didn't fly. He'd been too disappointed to pay attention to the reason, but he guessed it was probably something to do with weird social conventions in Britain.

As he reached the entrance to the mens room, he stopped behind the partial cover of a large potted plant, and peered back towards Tom, soldiering his way through the last of his Bud Light. Solomon felt a tiny flash of respect for the waste-not want-not attitude, but he screwed that up into a tiny ball and buried it in the deep recesses of his mind.

His hand dove into his pocket and pulled out his slightly-too-chunky-to-still-be-fashionable cell phone, and jabbed a finger into 3 on the speed dial. The person on the other end picked up almost instantly.

"I'm in, sis," he said in a hushed tone. "You're up."

[Diana Latona]

"Miss." The voice was annoying and insistent and came from behind in a whine that most reasonable people would never have been expected to achieve. "You'll need to put that away before you leave the lobby. We don't allow cell phones in the spa areas. You can check it in here at the desk or keep it in a locker."

Diana clicked the little bottom on the top of her brand new shiny iPhone and waited for the locking noise before smiling at the receptionist. "Oh. I'm so sorry. Important phone calls and all."

She stretched out a hand to reluctantly part with the bit of wonderful technology, giving the woman a stare that reflected just about everything except the smile still plastered on her lips. "Be a peach and take care of this for me, would you?"

The rule was unforeseen and as she was forced to part with her only means of communicating with her brother, Diana suddenly found the only thing that could keep her cordial was envisioning the receptionist's fat face shoved into the fish tank behind her as she struggled and gulped down the salt water in place of her precious precious air. Not that Diana disagreed with the whole thing - a glance around at people who seemed to be wearing nothing but soft cotton robes and maybe a swim suit underneath gave the reason full bloom. Damn those camera phones. Though... she did have to admit that the temptation to take a photograph of one of the more brazen elderly women in the locker room and send it to Solomon with a text of Found your new girlfriend! I'll bring the eye bleach later. Enjoy! was hard to ignore. Oh well, sacrifices must be made.

Now was the time to find her quarry. Or quarries as the case was. Solomon had it easy. One individual...and a guy at that. Men were always so easy to be trusting, especially if they were talking to someone they could relate to...or felt like they were helping a damsel in distress. Women on the other hand... women were pains in the ass. They could be catty at best and downright bitchy and standoffish without so much as a tiny provocation. Why the fuck hadn't the universe gifted Tom Harriman with a younger brother and a taste for men? No matter - it was time to go find these two broads and get to it. Not that the assignment was all bad. It wasn't every day you got to write off getting a massage as part of the job.

[Kat Harriman]

Kat hugged the bath robe around her a little more tightly. The whole health spa thing had sounded like a great idea in principle. After all, the people on the daytime TV shows she'd wound up watching so frequently in Tom's apartment were always raving about how great they were, how great it felt, how relaxing, how therapeutic. All great. Great, great, great.

What they didn't mention was the fact that you were expected to wander around practically naked underneath a fluffy white dressing gown, while getting stared at judgementally by the jaw-dropping combination of stunningly beautiful and confident business women, and employees who were far too attractive for it to be permissible. Because seriously: if the point of a spa like this was to make you feel good about yourself, there should be a rule forbidding good-looking people from entering the building, just so you didn't have to feel self conscious about the fact that your body had squidgy bits and flabby bits that didn't bulge or curve in the right sort of ways.

Like, take the gorgeous redhead across the way, being talked at by one of the staff people about the phone she'd neglected to part with. For starters, the fact that her head was genetically coded to sprout flowing copper curls like that was just plain unfair, especially when you compared it to the dirty blonde wavy locks tucked awkwardly into a bun on the top of Kat's head. Then there was the fact that with looks like that, she was probably a model or an up-and-coming movie star, or married to some rich and handsome billionaire with a luxury mansion in Malibu, and -

"Am I pretty?" Kat blurted out, her voice a little uneasy as her tentative steps kept her as close to Alice and familiarity as personal space would allow.

"I mean, like -" Her eyebrows fidgeted into a frown. "- guys used to hit on me back home, but British guys will pretty much hit on anything if it stays still long enough. But no one has ever, like, looked at me the way I catch Tom looking at you, and I just..."

She trailed off, her ears suddenly beginning to feel profoundly warm.

"I'm sorry," she said with a nervous twitch of an apologetic smile. "You probably don't want to talk about Tom stuff, especially not with his sister."

[Alice Kelly]

"What?" If the question had caught her off guard, everything that Kat said next only added to it.

Alice had never been great at comforting other people, especially when their words were echoing sentiments her mind was having trouble getting around. And then Kat had to throw another dash of the unexpected into the mix. A slow breath was taken as she tried to collect everything raging within her into one single line of thought. It was funny how just the mention of anything even remotely involving Tom could throw her off. She cringed internally as she swore she could hear the soft music playing throughout the spa suddenly and threateningly crackle.

"It's just... complicated."

And just like that everything was back in place.

"You worry too much. Some guy will come along eventually and he won't be able to stop staring, trust me. Besides... American guys find the accent cute. You're doomed if you start going to College." A sudden thought came to her as she laughed. "Of course, that's if your brother lets any guy even close to you. So glad I didn't have that problem."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat chewed and sucked on her lower lip, hoping that would stop her expression from doing anything more awkward and embarrassing, and stop her mouth from saying more stupid stuff. She stopped long enough to allow a nervous laugh to escape.

"I'd be more worried about that coming from Jace than Tom. Jace is the one who decided he had to be a surrogate dad because our real one was away with work so much, and I guess it kinda went to his head a little. Jace is the one who'd insist me and a guy had a chaperone with us first, like, fifty dates... and Tom is the one who'd volunteer, and then would sneak off to a bar so we could have some privacy until we called him for a ride home."

A tiny smile tugged at her lips. "I mean, sure, Tom is pretty protective and stuff, but I think he'd hate himself if he ever found himself getting in the way of someone being happy. If you think I worry to much, you just wait until you've seen Tom trying to plan a party, or fretting over what present to buy. Tom just -"

She frowned. "Tom just tries too hard. He wants to make everything better, and sometimes he just doesn't know when to stop."

[Alice Kelly]

"Oh..." The word left her quietly. The whole discussion was making her fidgety and questioning if any sort of actual relaxation was actually going to occur. Alice might have found it amusing and sad at the same time if she thought about the both of them long enough and the sorry state they seemed to be in.

But damn it all, they were here to have fun. And despite every want to just retreat back to the hotel room and curl up on one of the two beds and watch some horrible horror movie from the late 60s...Alice had already decided she was determined to actually make use of this vacation. A quick breath was let out as she looked back at Kat.

"Alright grumpy... Enough sulking. How about we hit the sauna first?"

[Kat Harriman]

A sharp-tongued Disney-themed comeback flashed into existence in her mind, but fortunately didn't make it all the way to her tongue: on reflection, referring to Alice as bashful was probably hitting a little too close to the mark. Instead she over-exaggerated a sigh, and slumped her shoulders in surrender.

"Okay," she agreed, "But only if we can find one that's empty. Sitting around sweating in bikinis when the air con in the apartment breaks is one thing -"

Her mind shuddered a little at that particular memory. Not that there was anything unpleasant about Alice in less-than-normal clothes; quite the opposite, in fact. But not that kind of opposite. Well, okay, maybe that kind of opposite, but only a tiny bit. But like, what had been uncomfortable was the whole not really knowing each other part, and the Tom clearly having the hots for her even if Alice didn't realise it part, and the I have a better idea of what the girl you're sweet on looks like naked than you do part, and all that stuff. Because Alice probably looked pretty good naked. Not in a lech way, but like, in an objectively, Tom has a lot to look forward to and it'll probably be worth the wait sort of way.

Kat felt the prickling warmth of her ears threatening to turn pink again, and rapidly rugby-tackled her train of thought in a new direction.

"- but doing it in a wooden box full of strangers is not exactly my idea of a good time."

[Alice Kelly]

A small laugh left Alice and she nodded knowingly. "That would make two of us."

Without waiting to see if Kat had any further commentary Alice headed past the lobby area and quickly down a hallway she hoped would lead them to their destination. The small pale blue signs with the overly loopy writing soon pointed the way down past other rooms and areas, finally leading to a series of doors set in between various storage areas that offered a place to hang the fuzzy bathrobes and offered Modesty Towels. The thought of lounging around in a sauna without one, even if she was swearing a swim suit, seemed mortifying. Each area seemed filled, and the slightly blurry shapes that appeared in the mostly opaque window set into the doors showed that apparently they hadn't been the only ones with this idea. Alice was just about to suggest that they try something else when she noticed the very last area seemed... well... empty. A quick peek inside proved their luck and Alice let out a quiet thanks to... whatever deity watched over socially awkward women in awkward public situations.

"Score one for the good guys."

The robe she wore was quickly swapped for one of the towels, wrapping it around her body tightly as if it was some sort of armor and a spot was quickly selected in the wooden interior and she sat down, somewhat huddled against herself. Alice couldn't help but wonder exactly how this was supposed to be relaxing... stuck in a room, with only Kat... Not that Alice found Katrina to be a nuisance! Just that... without the television to keep them both entertained the topic of conversation was bound to start drifting back towards things that Alice really didn't want to discuss. Again her thoughts went back to that single word that really did just seem to sum everything up. Complicated.

[Kat Harriman]

Kat shuffled along dutifully in Alice's wake, deciding that the world would probably be best if she kept her mouth shut for a while. She often had moments like that, though unfortunately they only ever seemed to show up in the immediate aftermath of her saying two much of the wrong thing, at which point her mind saw fit to remind her of each and every poor choice of words that she'd ever uttered. Today it had decided to revisit some of the classics; stupid things she'd said and done way back in her teens and pre-teens. The sheer abundance of that sort of stuff didn't exactly make her feel all that great about stuff.

As she towel-wrapped herself burrito style and wriggled awkwardly onto the sauna bench that was ever so slightly too tall for her stubby, hockey-player legs - the grass kind, not the ice kind - to not swing idly back and forth, a very loud and noticeable silence descended. That kind of silence was Kat's worst enemy, because it brought her two greatest fears and weaknesses into direct conflict: the fear of saying nothing, and the fear of saying the wrong thing. It taunted her, hissed at her through the proxy of water being poured on the sauna's hot rocks. She squeezed her eyes closed; tipped her head back against the wood-clad sauna wall; mustered all her self control to clamp her mouth tightly closed.

"Do you have any brothers?" she blurted out.

Horror descended, not only that she'd failed so miserably in her efforts, but also at how inappropriate that might sound given the apparent conversation theme for the day. "Or sisters," she quickly added, but to be honest that didn't sound all that much better.

She drew in a careful breath, which felt both weird and pleasant in the roasting hot air, and tried again with a little more careful choice of words. "It's just that, with everything that has happened, you know pretty much everything there is to know about me, about my family, about all the baggage we're all dragging around. But I know pretty much nothing about you." She kept her eyes closed and her head still, feeling too awkward to actually look at the no doubt horrified face that Alice was pulling. "And I know you don't like talking about stuff, and you keep yourself to yourself and all that, but like -"

She trailed off, a frown wrinkling her brow. Finally she forced her eyes to open, and mustered yet another apologetic smile. "You're basically my best friend; my only friend, I guess. And I feel really guilty for not trying to know you better."

[Alice Kelly]

And there it was, questions. Not the one that Alice had been expecting but they fell into the same realm of please don't ask. But as Kat continued, the sudden tension that came from the immediate question faded away and she felt... guilty. Alice had to admit there hadn't been a lot of fairness to everything. Thanks to Tom she had come to know a great deal about the Harrimans but the most they could say for her was Well...she's from Canada... The whole concept that Kat felt like Alice was her only friend wasn't helping anything.

"I..." She started, finding the feelings that came with everything a confusing jumble. It left her twisting part of the towel in her hands, not looking up as she forced herself to say something. "I had an older sister..."

The words felt like sand in her mouth and brought back all the horrible sensations that had caused her to leave home in the first place.

"But... she had leukaemia." Alice let the rest go unspoken. She didn't need to say how hard it had been watching her big sister suddenly get sick... how it had reflected what had happened to their mother... and their father before that.

It was the sudden pain she felt that let Alice know she had been biting at her lower lip. She hadn't looked up to see what Kat's reaction was...she didn't want to. Instead a deep breath was drawn in and she forced a shrug of her shoulders.

"I just don't talk about these things. When I left home I just wanted to leave all that behind... pretend it all never happened. You and Tom... you're kinda like my family now. I know that sounds stupid but, I guess it's just how I feel. I'm sorry I don't say a whole lot about myself. I'm not trying to be some great mystery... I just... want to forget."

[Kat Harriman]

As per usual, it turned out that the voice in her head urging her to keep her mouth shut was right all along. It wasn't just the sauna making it take more effort to breathe: guilt made it felt like her chest wanted to cave in, and Kat was inclined to let it, on the condition that the rest of her followed suit and she collapsed into a teeny tiny black hole pinprick of nothingness.

She had no idea what to say. She wasn't sure there was anything she could say, and she sure as hell didn't feel inclined to chance it and risk making things even worse. She knew how it had felt losing her father, and how it had felt almost losing Tom: but she had something, someone to blame for all that, and this Hurucan guy was doing a pretty damn good job of making himself an easy person to hate for just about everything. But leukaemia? That was a force of nature; it did what it did without malice or intent, because that was all it existed to do. Hating that was like hating a hurricane: Kat doubted it helped even slightly.

She couldn't bring herself to look at Alice; her attention was focused mainly on her knees. With a little effort however, she did muster a tiny amount of movement, shifting her hand to rest on top of Alice's on the bench between them.

"My family could use an extra sister," she said quietly.

[Diana Latona]

If given a few options of a perfect opportunity to disrupt some sort of touching moment Diana really couldn't have asked for anything better. The door to the sauna was opened just as Kat had finished speaking and in she walked, wrapped in one of those ridiculous, obviously designed by men, towels. A smile graced her lips as she took a moment to do one of those cliche "I'm just trying to get my hair to stop annoying me" brush of a hand through her copper locks. Lawd have mercy. Not that she was showing off. Okay. Maybe a little. Really it was just done in an effort to ruin that quaint little sisterly bonding that was going on. Diana had listened in, waited for the sobbing that didn't seem like it was going to come and then perfect timing.

"Oh thank the goddess. All the other ones were so full I figured I'd end up wedged between two men with enough body hair to..." She paused and gave a visible shudder before sitting down with what could best be described as feline grace. "I hope you don't mind if I join you both! Three's a crowd and all... hopefully you can make an exception for little old me, though."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat stared, frozen like a rabbit snared in headlights. How that reaction was supposed to help was beyond her; at best guess, part of her brain was perhaps hoping that if she stayed still enough and quiet enough, maybe the invader to their little bubble of sisterly bonding wouldn't actually notice she was there.

Good plan, Katrina, the voice in the back of her head - the same voice that tumbled out of her mouth every time she had a conversation with a parent, teacher, Tom, Jace, or just about anyone else who probably deserved respect but sure as hell wasn't going to get it - taunted. Because clearly this is Jurassic Sauna, and that woman is a bloody T-Rex.

The sarcastic voice was momentarily replaced by the nitpicky voice that persistently corrected everything - a voice that sounded suspiciously like Tom, come to think of it - which explained in great length how the whole vision based on movement thing was totally not true, and that in fact T-Rexes had a higher percentage of their brain capacity devoted to vision, suggesting that they probably saw really really well; the baton was quickly replaced by the paranoid voice that wrenched her eyes around in frantic zigzags trying to work out if the sauna's wooden walls would defend them against tyrannosaurus teeth, or if she was going to die in the same sort of undignified way as that guy on the toilet.

In other words, no matter how hard Kat tried to think straight, and muster up a half-way cool, or at least vaguely non-crazy reaction to her current situation, there was too much confusion and shouting in her mind to actually get anything done.

"Sometimes it's better when there are three," her mouth blurted out.

Oh god. That suddenly shut the voices up, all of them turning on the one in charge of her vocal chords like it had just dropped it's lunch tray in a High School sitcom.

"I mean, you know. Groups are good. And it's always good to meet new people who are also -" Her train of thought was rapidly transforming into a babble. She slammed on the brakes, and it ground to an uneasy halt. "- wearing towels."

An awkward silence settled into place; Kat mustered a nervous smile. "I like your hair?"

[Alice Kelly]

Alice was baffled...not so much by the apperance of the woman, but more by Kat's reaction. It was like she had managed to take any hesitation or discomfort Alice had been feeling and channeled into herself to come pouring out of her mouth with some ungodly amplification. Okay so maybe the whole spa thing wasn't such a great idea. At least it hadn't been her idea. Maybe later, when they were both done dying of embarrassment and self-conscious nitpicking Alice would casually point that out.

Since Katrina was obviously doing enough tripping-over-her-own-tongue for the both of them, Alice simply nodded politely at the newcomer. Of course she could stay. Telling her to leave was just rude and the both of them suddenly getting up and leaving was just as bad. No choice but to stick it out.

Alice found herself wondering if Tom was having as much fun as she was. Oh well, it would make for something funny to talk about at dinner later. You know, if she could bring herself to even try and speak about it in front of him. Dinner... alone... with Tom. The thought brought uncomfortable butterflies back into action in her stomach. Oh god... now she probably looked as nervous as Kat. At least Alice could pretend to be busy picking at a cuticle on her finger... Kat had saved her from having to become really invested in the conversation so far.

[Diana Latona]

Oh wow - behold the awkward train in motion. Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as Di had thought it might be. It had been suggested that the older one would be quiet and shy and kinda lame but the younger one... no one had said there might actually be some fun there. Shame she wasn't just a bit older...

Diana let a small laugh dance around the room. It wasn't mean or even mocking. It was as if she was a young girl that had just found a dandelion puff in her front yard and was running off to show her brother before she had the both of them make a wish.

"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest?" She rolled her eyes slightly and brought a hand up to once more gently brush through her hair. "It looks awful right now. All this humidity will have me looking like some sort of disaster later, I'm sure. But it's good for everything else. Nothing quite like just taking some time to relax and enjoy yourself."

As if on cue she leaned back, her hands going to either side of her as she rolled her shoulders and let her head fall back to look up at the ceiling.

"So nice to have time away from my brother too... he can be so damn over protective at times." She lifted her head slightly and looked over at the younger woman, a small smirk playing on her lips. "You can't relate...can you? I mean, you've got your big sister right here, huh? That must be nice too."

[Kat Harriman]

Oh god, I'm the sweetest?

At that moment, Katrina was pretty sure she was made purely of marshmallow. Her certainty stemmed mostly from the disconcertingly pleasant sensation that she was slowly becoming an oozing liquid that wanted to gloop off the bench and onto the floor, partly because of the heat but mostly because of that weird kind of I really don't know how to take compliments very well embarrassment.

"We're not sisters," she corrected reluctantly. "At least, not yet. She needs to marry one of my brothers first."

For a moment, Kat was confronted with the alarming mental image of Alice and the wrong brother, which she frantically pushed as far into the deep recesses of her mind as she could. "Mine are both pretty protective too, but I guess I shouldn't complain too much. After all, it's Tom's credit card that is paying for all this. We're making the most of a little girl time before -"

Before I get abandoned for the evening while you have a little romantic dinner. Because having me around is such a burden that you need to make me feel guilty for even existing, and for not being able to give you privacy at home because I'm stuck in this strange country with it's stupid money that I don't have any of, and with no friends to spend time with because you dragged me away from all of the ones I had to keep me 'safe'.

Those thoughts rattled through her head, but fortunately not out of her mouth. "- Alice has to endure whatever romantic escapades he's got planned for the evening." She didn't need to roll her eyes; the tone of her voice conveyed that well enough. Ever since the whole feelings stuff had been out in the open, Tom had started growing insufferably romantic; and it was even worse this time, because he was so blatantly holding back. One of these days he'd snap, and they'd open the front door only to be buried by an avalanche of rose petals or something.

"I'm Kat, by the way," she added as an afterthought, with a smile that was perhaps slightly too enthusiastic.

[Diana Latona]

While her eyes had trained on Kat as she spoke, nodding her head knowingly when appropriate, Diana couldn't help but notice the other woman in the room trying her best to vanish into thin air. She almost felt bad for her, but the Oh, Poor You look she briefly gave to Alice didn't exactly help the situation. The goal had become obvious... the shrinking violet wasn't going to be a way in. But the chatty one....oh yes, that would do just nicely.

"Well I must say that it is my good fortune in meeting you, Kat." She smiled, trying to not think about the faces Sol would be making at her right now if he could hear her. "I'm Diana."

Another quick glance was cast at Alice before she let a mischievous smirk form on her cherry colored lips. "So let me get this straight. You're on vacation with your brother and his..." a small pause "girlfriend. And don't even try and tell me you're local. That accident is adorable but isn't exactly helping you blend in. What's in all this for you?"

[Kat Harriman]

Diana wasn't wrong: Katrina was a good few thousand miles away from being local. Mention of her accept though ruffled her feathers to some degree; while her brother was lucky enough to still have the faint highlands lilt to his voice that had always made Kat's school friends get all swoony and weak at the knees, she didn't have an accent of her own. Her voice was generic. Neutral. Normal. And yet, pretty much everyone in America insisted that she either sounded like Mary Poppins or Dick Van Dyke.

When that initial irritation subsided though, the film of emotion it left behind was something different entirely. What's in all this for you? was just a fancy way of asking, Why are you here? And sure, maybe Diana just meant at the resort. Heck, maybe she just meant specifically in the sauna. It all boiled back to one simple answer though: one simple explanation that accounted for everything.

"My dad died."

Her voice was soft; timid almost as she spoke. Though it was a truth she'd come to terms with already, more or less, it still sounded strange to hear those words in her voice, rather than in the half-blanked out voices of everyone else who'd explained it for her. Diana had already turned her skeleton half way to a liquid puddle; but now her mind froze it in place; she couldn't unslump herself even if she tried.

Her features twitched as her face cycled through potential expressions to display. "Some guy threw him off the roof of a hospital. It wasn't safe for me to be on my own, so Tom, he -" She forced herself to swallow, throat slowly turning into a desert. "He flew me out here. He and Alice let me stay with them, and, well -"

She half-heartedly mustered a brave smile.

"I guess all that's in it for me is that I don't have anywhere else to go."

[Diana Latona]

Threw him off a roof....? It wasn't hard to looked appalled at the idea. That sort of thing was just downright cruel. There were far more efficient ways of killing someone if you wanted and Diana could instantly think of several that may have even been considered classy. But where-as Diana could take comfort in the mental image of a person handling from their neck by a satin sheet she doubted that Kat, or her overly quiet friend, would exactly appreciate that sort of thing. So that left the usual...

She nodded her head slowly. "I know how that is. My mother died when I was young."

Oh fuck's sake why did she have to say that and suddenly have to relive the moment in her head. Water and fire everywhere, her own childhood voice screaming until someone started pulling her away from it... which thankfully brought her back to the actual point of what she had said.

"All I had left after that was my brother. We watch out for each other. It's what siblings do... even if we don't always appreciate it." A small whistful sigh left her as Diana shoved all those wonderful little memories back into their little black box that lived somewhere in the very veryvery back of her mind.

"But that's no reason to not take full advantage of things. A new life means a lot of great things can happen. New home, new start, new friends! I have to admit, I kinda envy you in a way. And hell, if you're here on his tab... well, I'd suggest raiding the mini fridge for starters."

[Kat Harriman]

"Why would we raid the mini-bar," Kat asked quietly, a tiny smile elbowing it's way onto her features like a timid teen through a crowded corridor, "When my brother has already set up a tab at the full-size bar?"

She turned, planning to aim a little of her smile in Alice's direction as well; it was only then she realised that Alice was trying really hard not to be there. Before Kat had arrived in Los Angeles, Tom had warned her about how shy and introvert Alice was; how she was likely to stay pretty quiet, and how Kat shouldn't expect her to be chatty right away. Kat had reacted to that with her usual bullheaded ignorance, giving Alice no choice but to engage her at every possible opportunity. Wherever Alice turned, there Kat was, being talkative, irritating, invasive, and all manner of other stuff. It was the way that Kat always infiltrated her way into people's favour: it was like living next door to a railway line; endure the constant noise for long enough, and you'd just grudgingly accept the fact that it was there.

It was what she was doing with this new person, really: babbling away until she seemed comfortable enough to tolerate Kat being around. But from the look of things, Alice wasn't all that enthusiastic a participant in Operation Befriend The Redhead. Guild clumped around Katrina's heart, the extra weight sending it plummeting through the bottom of her gut.

She realised her hand was still resting on top of Alice's; she offered a small squeeze, and what she hoped looked like a reassuring smile. "I think we're just gonna relax and have some girl time though," she explained. "At least, that's what we're gonna do until it's time for Alice and Tom's dinner-date."

[Alice Kelly]

She offered a small smile back to Kat. Finally. It wasn't that she was opposed to the Ginger Invasion, it was just that this woman was so confident, so carefree. No one was like that genuinely, were they? Of course, Diana was American and really who knew what went on in their heads? If Alice had even thought of suggesting they all enjoy a little quiet relaxation time the woman probably would spout off something about free speech. Or... maybe not. It was cynical to think that and really, despite being horribly uncomfortable, Alice just couldn't make herself really believe it.

Her hand slowly pulled back from Kat's as she mustered her best smile. No, quiet wouldn't work either, she supposed. It worked well enough for her most of the time but it was starting to get awkward. What if Diana thought she was some uptight...rude... person? That thought seemed to bug her as much as just about anything else.

"It's, not really a date...I don't think. It's just dinner..." A dinner that Kat wasn't invited to. She wasn't quite ready to tackle the guilt from that on top of nerves from actually joining Tom for something other than just takeout Chinese food.

[Diana Latona]

They were just precious weren't they? Oh if only she was there on vacation this whole situation could turn fun. And while she guessed the little thoughts running about skipping in her head would technically count towards make them trust you, something told her it probably wasn't the best plan to try and get Harriman's little sister and his interest into a compromising situation. Even if it would be fun. Even if Sol would probably high-five her the day after. Pity.

"Not a date?" An eyebrow raised as she eyed Alice, playing up the disbelief before she looked back to Kat. "It's is a date, isn't it?"

Her head shook as her eyes rolled slightly in that Oh the innocence of youth look that really shouldn't have been able to be pulled off by someone who looked her age.

Then suddenly... her eyes brightened. Yes! Perfect! What else got girls together and made them all become BFFs?

Diana gave a quick and mischievous smile to Kat before her eyes trained directly on Alice. "We need to give you a makeover."

Her hands came up and shook as if brushing off the idea. 'Okay no, not that. But you're at a spa, right? This is the perfect place to get ready for a date!" She paused, the smirk reappearing, "Especially one you're obviously nervous about."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom had never been so nervous in his life.

For a man who used to jump out of aeroplanes for a living, that was a pretty ridiculous notion; or for a man who ran around at night beating up criminals while dressed as Robin Hood, for that matter. He'd fought wars, clashed with gangs, stood in front of thousands, spoken on camera before millions, felt his flesh literally melting away from his body... and yet what terrified him most of all, apparently, was a tiny little table covered in an unremarkable piece of cloth, two sets of generic-looking cutlery, and a tiny vase of flowers that looked a little bit too wilty for his liking.

He peeled back the neatly folded napkin, glancing down at the screen of the cell phone he'd concealed there so he could anxiously check the time every few seconds without it actually looking like he was actually checking the time. It was 20:06, which meant she was late; or at least, it meant that she was a normal person rather than someone who the military had brainwashed into thinking that arriving for dinner at exactly 2000 hours was a mission-critical objective that categorically could not be failed. She was probably just fixing her hair, or having difficulty disposing of Kat, or standing out in the corridor fretting nervously back and forward worrying about absolutely nothing exactly the same way that he was --

His cell phone buzzed, and Tom snatched it instantly, mind conjuring up all sorts of alternative possibilities that this new evidence might hint at. His shoulders sagged in both relief and frustration as his eyes skimmed the text from his sister.

Need card deets 4 room service.

Tom sighed and, slumping a little in his chair, set to work trying to reply with the annoyingly tiny touch screen keys.

[Alice Kelly]

Alice was pretty sure that the last few hours she had endured at the hands of Katrina and Diana could be considered some form of torture somewhere in the world. It might have all been considered fun if she had been on her own and was just trying things. But when you were pressured into having every bit of you polished and fancied up by others... Well, it wasn't that Alice had been completely opposed to the idea, it just all seemed like a bit much. Painting your nails was one thing but for the last hour or so Diana and Kat had attempted their very best to make sure she looked nice through the means of every bit of makeup and hair-trickery they could come up with. The icing on the cake had been when they both had decided that everything Alice had brought was too plain and they discovered that yes, she would fit into things that Diana had brought with her and the redhead had just the thing.

When all was said and done Alice did have to admit the result was impressive. Even if she'd never go through all the trouble on her own. Even if the dress was a little lower cut than she liked and she had found herself constantly wondering if it was too much.But the other two women had shuffled her on her way before she could figure out how to change into something more her.

So there she was, fidgeting in the hallway and trying her best to not feel like an overdressed prissy thing and it wasn't really working. With a small sigh of resignation she slowly pushed the door to the restaurant open, trying to look past the others standing near the entrance waiting for a table. She tucked a strand of curled hair behind her ear as she glanced through those already seated. It was probably silly the way she still felt like her heart skipped a beat when she finally spotted Tom, but it was there anyway. The small crowd in front of her was navigated through and she gave a weak smile and a small wave as Tom finally looked up from his phone.

[Tom Harriman]

Whatever Tom had been expecting, it wasn't that.

He stared dumbly in surprise for a few seconds, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. He had never seen Alice like this, dressed to impress or whatever you wanted to call it. She'd never needed to: not just a lack of occasion to, but a genuine lack of need. The way she looked each and every day, shuffling around the apartment in whatever she felt like, hair styled for convenience and to hell what anyone else thought; the way she looked then could only be described by the breath-stealing, heart-fluttering feeling that Tom felt every single time, not by any sort of clunky, useless words. Tom didn't doubt for a second that today's efforts hadn't been entirely voluntary - the hair was a little too Katrina, the dress was a little too he wasn't sure what, and her body language was more nervous and uncomfortable than ever - but at least for once, he knew how to describe her with a word.

The word was stunning.

Faculties slowly ticking back online, Tom stood with enough distracted disregard to tip his chair precariously onto only two legs for a few seconds, and couldn't stop the smile from blossoming on his face.

"You look beautiful," he managed to utter, feeling terrible for using such an inadequate word as he stepped out from behind the table, intent on fulfilling his gentlemanly responsibilities and helping Alice to her seat. Finding himself standing in front of her however he hesitated, just long enough to plant a single, tentative kiss on her sculpted-by-angels cheek. "You always do."

[Alice Kelly]

She knew she was blushing... again. A timid smile couldn't be helped though and it went with that unconscious movement of raising a hand to gently touch where he had kissed her. Okay, so maybe it all had been worth it.

The words "Thank you" left her, just barely. More out of a want to say something in reply but never really knowing what she were supposed to. Compliments had always been awful like that to her, but Alice figured that was probably some sort of universal truth.


"I'm sorry I'm late..." She let the words fall away as she realized they both were standing there, somewhat staring at each other in the way that only people in their situation really could. It was so strange, they had eaten dinner together plenty of times, hell she lived with the guy and yet at that very moment it was like she barely knew how to even remotely act around Tom.

A small nervous laugh left her as she forced herself to look away from him and finally found that they could go through the motions of him pulling out her chair for her and her taking the offered seat and so on. Even that seemed strange to her for some reason, not in a why the hell are we doing this way, more in that giddy way that made your insides feel funny. Not that Alice really needed anymore of that particular sensation at that moment, there was always that constant worry in the back of her mind of exactly what all this was doing to her...what it may have been doing to him.

As Tom sat back down across the table from her she felt the same nervous laugh creeping back up. It had to be silenced and unfortunately it only was going to be with a super cliche question that she actually felt bad about asking but really was genuinely curious about. Better than an awkward silence at least.

"So... what'd you do all day while I was at the mercy of spa-land?"

[Tom Harriman]

The advantage of Alice being so perpetually nervous was that she so seldom looked at him directly, and that made gazing at her without being noticed so much easier. He wouldn't have been able to stop himself even if he'd wanted to: every spare second he felt his eyes drawn to her like iron to a magnet, every fibre of his being demanding that he do more than just look, but at the same time begging that he never, ever stop. He knew every curve and furrow of her face; every wrinkle and crinkle when she laughed or smiled; knew it well enough that even with his eyes closed, her face was still there.

And then when her eyes met with his for even the briefest of seconds, time froze. If he went blind, and her eyes were the last thing he ever saw - the only sight he could ever remember - that would be enough. He felt like he could spend an eternity staring into those crystal blue-green depths, and that even if he did it still wouldn't be long enough.

But then, that split second later, he always wrenched his gaze away. It was impossible that she didn't know, and yet he still went to every length to ensure she didn't. He didn't quite understand why. Was he afraid that he'd scare her by staring too long? Was he worried that she'd mistake his longing gazes for something more sordid? Was he embarrassed for her to know just how utterly smitten he really was?

It was during one of those moments of averted eyes that she asked her question.

"I, uh -"

He realised that she'd provided him with an excuse to look at her without subterfuge, but all of a sudden he found himself incapable of normal looking; a fraction of a second too long and every glance felt like an inappropriate stare. A nervous laugh of his own escaped, and he looked intently at his napkin.

"Met a guy at the bar. Played a few holes of golf; spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the club house. I tried out their strawberry martini, it was pretty -"

Tom's face quickly started to turn the colour of the cocktail as he realised he'd admitted to ordering Alice's favourite, just to make sure it was okay. Cocktails in places such as this could be hit and miss, and if he could manage to save her from potential disappointment at her favourite not living up to expectations, that was something he wanted to save her from. At least, that was the theory: presented with the scenario in hindsight, it suddenly seemed pretty damn embarrassing.

His mind searched for something to say, but the knee jerk reaction - I missed you, though - seemed like a sure-fire way to dig himself into an even deeper hole. He suddenly realised that her hands were resting on the table, an easy reach away; he forced himself to hide his own hands under the table, for fear of indulging in any more stupid ideas.

"Was the spa good? In spite of the company, I mean."

[Alice Kelly]

She didn't know what to say. Her mind was still spinning over the fact that Tom had apparently ordered something so girlie and why would he bother, he never ordered that kind of drink, that was her thing and... and... oooohhhh. It was something Alice never thought she'd get used to. Tom sometimes just did things that she couldn't make sense of until she thought about it and realized it tied back to her. It was always the kind of thing that was sweet to the point where it made her uncomfortable because she just didn't think she was worth that sort of thing. He'd probably never fully realize how much she appreciated it all, mostly because she never seemed to be able to find words that expressed it. Most of the times she would just kinda stare at him with a stupid smile of her face before suddenly hugging him and then realizing she was touching him and suddenly feel flustered to an obscene degree. She couldn't exactly do that right at the moment.

Thankfully he had derailed her little what do I do train with his question. She'd expected that one to come around at some point. It helped.

"I... guess?" She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't really have anything to compare it to so I suppose it was good. I kinda just was dragged around by Kat and Diana - she was this woman we met there, really nice... I think she's still hanging out with your sister right now, actually. Probably a good thing. I feel bad kinda leaving her by herself and..."

The words had been coming out fast, too fast. Another small laugh left her before she bit her lower lip and found a hand running through the curls that her hair had been forced to take on. "Thanks, by the way. It was really sweet of you to fund that whole thing. This too. I always feel like you spoil me."

Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized what her brain had just let spill out of her mouth before she could stop it. "I mean that in a good way. I just... yeah... thanks."

[Tom Harriman]

It was like a contest: which one of them could make themselves feel more embarrassed and awkward than the other. Alice seemed to be doing pretty well, but then she'd busted out the thank yous, and for Tom's level of discomfort that was like tossing gas on a barbeque. Why was she thanking him for an unstoppable compulsion that he felt guilty for having? Why was she the one being grateful, when everything he did was to make up for how disproportionately lucky he felt? It was like some elaborate, self-perpetuating feedback loop. He felt guilty that she felt guilty, and it spiralled on and on.

He had to grip hold of his pants leg to stop the urge to reach out across the table and hold her hand. He fought the urge to laugh at how backwards she had everything; to unleash some torrent of confessions about him, and her, and his past, and oh so many things that he wasn't sure he was ready for her to know, and was damn sure she wasn't ready to hear. The guilt of it all coiled up around his heart like sea serpents attacking sailors, and he badly wished a waiter would show up so he could order a drink to calm himself.

"You don't need to thank me," he countered, his voice sounding strange and sheepish. "Not now, not ever. Maybe I do spoil you, but it's only because I -"

Something from the back of his mind leapt forward, rugby tackling control of his vocal chords away from the part of his brain that absolutely, categorically should not be allowed to finish that sentence, for fear of uttering things that he absolutely should not be saying. Not saying it felt like a lie; but saying it and watching Alice run for the hills seemed like an even worse plan.

"I feel lucky that you're part of my life. Lucky that I've got you around to give me a reason to smile every day." That wasn't a great alternative angle to go with, but at least it was an alternative of a sort. His mouth twitched into a smile that was too embarrassed to stick around. "I guess I'm trying to return the favour for as long as I can, before karma comes to it's senses and realises I don't deserve you after all."

[Alice Kelly]

Hearing him say things that were being thought in her head was like some sort of bad telepathy mishap. Everything she wanted to say was on the tip of her tongue but somewhere between brain and mouth it got jumbled up like a fat kid getting stuck in a water slide in some horrible cartoon that caused everything else to get stuck behind it. And with that came the distinct sensation of unease that was growing worse and worse and... Calm down, Alice. Before the both of you start glowing or some shit. The words punched a hole into everything. There it was then. Calm down for both of their sakes before she did it again. Before someone got hurt because she couldn't control herself. Why was it always so damn easy to do at home and yet here in public...? It wasn't like home wasn't sitting right across from her or anything.

It was that particular thought that somehow, despite everything, made her feel the sudden tenseness evaporate and finally let her take a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"You know I feel the same way..." She tried her best to make the smile that was forming look playful rather than the sheepish one that she could just tell was fighting for it's right to be there.

It was a poor attempt at lightening the mood, but really she wasn't exactly lying. They'd both danced around the subject a ton of times before one day there had been a series of 'You know I like you, right?' that got things into the air but even then the words had been all wrong and while they both knew the other felt something towards the other it was hard to say exactly just how far the feeling went. There was being attracted to someone and then there was being attracted to someone.

[Tom Harriman]

Do you, though? Do you feel the same?

Those thoughts floated across his mind, and Tom found himself feeling like Lois Lane, desperately hoping that the subject of his affections could read his mind and spare him the insurmountable challenge of translating the way he felt into clunky, inaccurate, insufficient words. That would make everything so much easier: if Alice somehow took the thoughts straight out of his head, it wouldn't be his fault if everything fell apart, because at least he wouldn't have made a decision that turned out to be the wrong one. At least he wouldn't have actively screwed things up.

But that wasn't just the easy way: that was the coward's way. That was right up there with asking a friend to find out if the girl you liked was single, just because you were too nervous to be able to bring it up in conversation and find out for yourself. That was like breaking out the old I have a friend who really likes this girl routine. Not that Tom had ever, or would ever resort to such spineless and subversive tactics -

"There's something I need to tell you," he found himself saying. Red alert klaxons began to sound as part of his brain went rogue, seizing control of his mouth before anyone else could intervene. "Because not saying it is driving me crazy, and it feels like I'm -"

[Solomon Latona]

"Tom?"

Truth be told, Solomon was a little buzzed. Not drunk, or anything - hell, he wasn't a pansy-ass lightweight by any stretch - but he'd consumed enough alcohol to at least notice the fact that it was in his bloodstream. It was the bar's fault, mostly: grim as their beer selection had been, at least what they offered came in bottle form, and that made it fantastically portable. Thus, Solomon had been spending as much time as was humanly possible wandering around the resort with a bottle in his hand; and due to the fact that being at a resort didn't technically count as public intoxication in this fine state, he was having a huge amount of fun irritating the staff and other guests. He'd turned it into a game: right now at least seven separate families had shot him disapproving scornful looks, and two had even ushered their children away so they wouldn't see him.

Okay, so maybe the peeing into a bush had been something to do with that too.

Still, the important part was that he was plenty sober; or at least, sober enough to do what he needed to do. And right now, what he needed to do was walk over to Tom drawing as much attention to himself as possible, so that the Australi-, Brit-, whatever guy would feel compelled to do whatever was necessary to prevent him from making a scene.

Definitely British,Solomon decided, not entirely sure whether he'd remembered that from earlier, or if he was just being uncharacteristically perceptive. Those guys are really uptight about this sort of thing.

"Hey, man," he said a little too loudly, with a painfully enthusiastic grin. "So this is where you slunk off too, huh? Kinda thought you might have hit up the driving range to make yourself suck a little less before our rematch."

Very sure of himself, and swaying in an ever so slightly unnerving fashion, Solomon turned his attention to Tom's dinner date. "And you -" he said, pointing with his bottle-holding hand before hesitating to down another swig, "You must be Alice."

He leaned forward and down a little, drawing himself as close to Alice's face as he could manage - too close for comfort, but far enough away to avoid accidentally headbutting her. He squinted as he regarded her eyes, and then recoiled a little bit in surprise. "Well, I'll be damned," he muttered, "They really do kinda like topaz."

More beer was consumed; Solomon closed his eyes for a moment but instantly regretted it as his balance was momentarily compromised. He persisted, draining the last of his bottle, before setting it down on the table with a clunk. "This guy," he spoke again, ever so slightly slurred, "Would not shut up about you earlier. Dunno how you did it, but you must have his balls locked up tight in that purse of yours; couldn't go three sentences without finding a way to bring it back to you."

[Alice Kelly]

She'd been on the edge of her seat, leaning forward, trying to not look expectant as Tom started talking, began saying something she might have only ever whispered to herself... but it had been interrupted. For ever bit she had withdrawn from herself, for every bit that she might have been considered normal.... Everything slammed shut. She felt like a hermit crab that had been poked at with a stick, suddenly wanting nothing more than to hide within its shell and maybe wave something - a fork looked like a good option - threateningly until the menace went away.

But he wasn't going away. In fact he just kept going. How Tom had apparently manged to stand this guy for an afternoon was beyond her. Maybe it was just the beer... she'd known her share of guys in College who seemed nice until they started drinking. Why am I trying to stand up for this guy? "Uhm..." What did you say to something like that? Nothing. That's what.

Her eyes fell to the side. It was just like earlier when someone had inserted themselves suddenly into her life today but so much worse.

[Solomon Latona]

"Uhm, huh?"

Solomon let out a noiseless chuckle.

"A beautiful dame like you needs to be a little better at accepting compliments, blondie."

Hands now empty, he wiped his condensation-moist palms on the front of his shirt, and cast his eyes around him, surveying his surroundings. His eyes settled on an unoccupied chair at a vacant table, and he snagged it; dragging it up to Tom and Alice's table, he mounted it backwards, arms propped up on the seat back. Now more comfortable, his eyes looked her up and down critically.

"Especially if you're gonna be wearing a dress like that. Because damn. I don't think even my sister could pull off a dress like that, and she's got some crazy goddess curves going on."

He frowned for a second. "Speaking of which -"

In an instant, Solomon was back on his feet, peering out across the restaurant like a meerkat. His eyes settled on his sister, hovering by the bar. "Hey!" he yelled, way too loud for anyone's tolerance levels. A shrill whistle followed it, finally managing to snag her attention. He brandished his empty beer bottle in her direction, then gesticulated wildly towards the table he had now commandeered. She rolled her eyes, which Sol took to be a universal indication of her surrender and compliance. A self-satisfied smile formed on his features, and he settled back down onto the chair.

"She's on her way over," he announced proudly, as if he'd just complied with some highly complicated unspoken request from his now-companions. He flashed a broad grin in Alice's direction. "Maybe you can give her some fashion tips, huh?"

[Diana Latona]

Oh for the love of... The cute guy she'd been chatting with had just been about to offer to buy her a drink but now he was recoiling away from her as if she'd suddenly announced she was a man. Thanks Sol. Thanks a bunch. She couldn't figure out what on earth could possibly so important that he was blocking her from the male experience once more... and then she saw who he had seated himself with. The guy wasn't recognizable except for the description she had pried for earlier... but the girl with him? Oh dear...

She put on her best not pleased face and sauntered over to the table. "Solomon... I see you've met Alice." An apologetic smile was offered. "And you must be Tom."

"I'm sorry, it seems my brother has had a bit too much to drink. Sol, why don't you and I go back to the bar and let these two enjoy their special dinner together." The last words were emphasized through gritted teeth as she kept up the fake smile.

[Solomon Latona]

"Special dinner?" Sol echoed, finding it not particularly difficult to muster a look of confusion.

His eyes widened as he plucked an arbitrary guess out of mid-air. "Oh man, Tom -" He flashed a grin. "Are you gonna propose? Is that why you were in such a tizzy earlier on?"

He leaned back in his chair, throwing a smug little look about his powers of deduction towards Diana. "Congratulations, man. That's -"

He interrupted himself, finally paying enough attention to his surroundings to notice the expression of abject terror that had formed on Tom's features. His grin fell into another slack-jawed look of confusion. "This isn't a proposal dinner?"

Tom slowly shook his head.

Sol arched an eyebrow. "This is just a, what, regular date?" Scepticism and disapproval took full control of his features and vocal chords. "Hell with that," he grunted. "You can do boring regular dates on your own damn time." His nose curled a little as he glanced at their surroundings. "And time when you put a little bit more damn effort into picking the venue. Bonus romance points for the spa weekend and everything, but a crappy little dinner for two like this?" He sucked a hissing breath through his teeth. "You're jeopardising your bedroom privileges with rookie shit like that, if you ask me."

He shook his head a little in the kind of mild disapproval you'd expect to see on a little league baseball coach when his army of teeny tiny midget players didn't play so great, but you didn't want them to feel too bad. Eager to change the subject for the benefit of Tom, who clearly needed as much help as he could get if he was going to stand a chance of driving down the fairway to sink it in the eighteenth hole tonight - or at least get a shot at putting about on the green - he turned his attention to Diana, who was standing around like some sort of disapproving mom.

"This is a vacation, and vacations are meant to be fun. Four is a way better number for that than two -" He hesitated just long enough to shoot a sly wink at Alice to emphasise his innuendo. "- so how about Di and I keep you company, huh? We'll get some food, some drinks, get to know each other better, and it'll stop that damn perv at the bar from non-stop trying to get in my sister's pants. Because damn, that guy needs to back off."

Thoughts of beer once again in his mind, he looked at Diana expectantly, and then with disappointment. "Where's my beer?" he asked, with a sheepish voice that might have sounded better coming out of a twelve-year-old. "I gave you the -" He gestured in the air with his empty hand the way he had with the beer bottle moments before. "- grab me a beer would you, thanks toots signal. Did you not...?"

His face fell in childish disappointment. "I fetch you stuff all the time," he muttered under his breath. "But I guess you're just too busy slutting it up for every guy in a five mile radius to ever return the favour."

[Diana Latona]

It was a funny thing. There was really never a period of time that Diana could remember in her life that Sol wasn't there. You would think after having your twin's biting commentary coloring your life since he learned to speak would grant some sort of immunity. Fact was, Diana didn't have to fake the sudden shocked and hurt look that suddenly caught her. It only showed for a second, and damn right she thanked her lucky damn stars that Sol wasn't exactly facing her at that moment. Ass.

"They have girls who get paid for that sort of thing around here, dear brother. I'm sure you're well acquainted."

Another chair was snagged from the empty table and set down. She obviously wasn't going to be able to drag Solomon away from this so that meant damage control was the new objective. Maybe.

[Solomon Latona]

"The waitresses?" Sol inferred, with a heavy frown.

He shook his head. "Nah, this place is scraping the bottle of the barrel on that front. Nothing to get 'acquainted' with."

Diana was clearly annoyed, and on some level that pleased him: not in an I hate you, I want you to feel bad sort of way; more I don't get to win very often, so I'm going to make the most of it while I can. It was a big, persistent problem in Sol's life, and always had been: when they'd been handing out roles in their little twin dynamic, Diana had managed to snag both brains and brawn, which pretty much relegated Sol to being the pretty, witty one. He didn't mind it necessarily: he got the girls, and got to throw in one liners that would put James Bond to shame with alarming frequency. However, there were times when he wanted to be the one scoring the points, rather than just being the plucky sidekick.

Which usually meant he had to jam his fingers into every button and every raw nerve his sister had.

"The women hanging out at the spa, on the other hand?" Sol let out a low whistle. "There's this girl I saw in there earlier; bit shy, bit timid, got that kinda hair that's somewhere between dirty blonde and brunette. Nowhere near as hot as Alice here -" He flashed her a quick wink. "- but she has that look of the inexperienced little post-teen who still needs a little breaking in, if y'know what I'm saying."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom was aware of the playful elbow to the ribs that Solomon used to emphasise his innuendo, but he was a little too busy stopping his fist from flying out from beneath the table and connecting with Solomon's jaw to really feel it.

"I'm not sure I do -" Tom's voice came through gritted teeth, forced to stare at the table for a moment or two to gather his calm before he could look at Solomon's smug featured again without breaking them. His voice had a dark edge and a snarl to it, like a muzzled dog that couldn't make more noise even if it wanted to. "- because it seems like you're sitting at a table with two women, one of whom is your sister and the other I'm on love with, and yet the only stuff coming out of your mouth is a bunch of lecherous, chauvinist bullshit."

He tried to unfurl his fist; failed. He stared dead into Solomon's eyes.

"I think you want to leave this room. Now."

[Solomon Latona]

Well, well, well; seemed like the Doctor had some claws after all. Or at least, he had a bark on him, talking all big and macho in front of his lady. Solomon could respect that; hell, under other circumstances he'd probably do the man a solid and prop it up. But, any action taken to reinforce Tom's masculinity meant sacrificing some of his own, and that sure as hell wasn't going to happen.

"Oh, Tommy," Solomon chuckled dismissively, shaking his head and fiddling absently with the beer bottle. "Tryin' to talk big in front of your lady, huh? Tryin' to get her going already to save you some prep work back in your room? I get that." He mustered his most smug, taunting expression. "But you think I should leave?"

Suddenly his expression fell slack, throwing back as much menace as Tom had mustered, and more. "That's big talk, Tommy boy. Now I kinda want you to try and make me."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom didn't need asking twice. The left hook connected with Solomon's face before he'd even made it all the way to standing; but it wasn't the upward motion or the impact of his knuckles that did the damage. Before, Tom's powers had always been a mix of focus and instinct: it had taken effort to hone it into something that he could do by reflex without conscious effort. Not today, though: as his fist met with the skin of Solomon's jaw, a pressure wave of potential inertia slammed into his head like freight train, not just knocking Solomon clean off the seat that he'd stupidly sat on backwards, but clean across half the room as well, sent crashing into the table from which he'd commandeered his chair.

The normally passive and under control man stood over him, knuckles bone-white, clenched jaw quivering with anger and adrenaline.

"Tha' enough?" Tom growled, his Scottish accent snarling out from beneath his words even more than usual. "Or am I gonna have tae pick you up and toss y' outta the doors m'self?"

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon let out another deep chuckle, grinning like a fool as he prodded the coppery-tasting split in his lip with the tip of his tongue, and then wiped away the trickle of blood with the back of his hand.

"Quite a swing you've got there," he admitted, his voice far more upbeat than it should have been, given his circumstances. Truth be told, he was a little surprised by just how hard the mild-mannered scientist could actually swing a punch; but as far as provoking a mutant-fuelled overreaction, Solomon had the smug satisfaction of knowing he'd succeeded in what he was trying to do.

"In my experience though," he continued, making no effort to stand up from the surprisingly comfortable half-collapsed table that was currently propping him up, "There's only one reason a guy gets that mad that quick -"

He turned his attention to Alice. "What's the matter, toots? You not putting out enough for your man here? He seems mighty -" He paused for effect. "- frustrated."

[Tom Harriman]

Something snapped. It was like whatever dam or barricade kept Tom under control suddenly shattered, and a raging torrent stormed it's way out. He pushed, not with his body but with his mind, all the force that usually lasted a few fractions of a second to add a little extra punch to his punches, his arrows, and things he threw all cascading from his outstretched hand towards Solomon's body, crushing down on his lungs and pinning him to the tabletop.

"You need t' stop talking, and listen," he snarled. His voice wasn't just angry any more: it had transcended beyond that into something different.

"Alice Kelly is not my woman, and I am not her man. She is not some object that you can just lech over like some broken record social throwback still clinging to ideas that stopped being acceptable decades ago." His hand trembled, teeth ground, lungs struggled for each breath; though not as badly as Solomon's would have to, underneath the force equivalent of an overweight Glaswegian sitting on his chest. "She is the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful, perfect person in all the world, and if you ever so much as utter a single word to her again -"

The pressure increased; the table beneath Solomon groaned and splintered, unable to withstand Tom's assault. Ice flowed through the scientists words.

"- I will break you."

[Alice Kelly]

"STOP IT!"

It had all been happening too fast and she had been looking down at her hands for most of it but Alice had caught every single word spoken despite trying to ignore it all. She'd tried to pretend that maybe this was just some sort of bad dream or a joke that Tom and his new friend were playing, even if it wasn't very funny and he never really had done anything like that before and it wasn't right and he wouldn't be that cruel... And she had felt like things were spinning out of control, not just near her but within her. And then it just...snapped.

She hadn't even realized she had been stood up until her hands slammed down on the table and she had finally spoken, well more of really yelled, out. Her voice hadn't been the only thing to escape, she could feel it lingering in the air, the crackle of every cellphone in the restaurant that had been busy filming the scuffle suddenly blinking out, the varnish on the table cracking and peeling away from her fingertips, the fact the glass of water that had been waiting for her to drink had begun to steam slightly.

Panic set in coupled with the disorder created by the two men. Alice felt everything retreating, the outburst subsiding and it left her fully aware of just how exposed they all were, how every eye had turned to them all and were now lingering on her. She tried to force words to form but all that happened when she opened her mouth to speak was a sharp intake of air that caught in her chest. Her head managed just the smallest of shakes before she spun away and made a rather hasty retreat from the entire scene. She needed to clear her head, needed to collect her thoughts, but more than anything else she just needed to get away, to figure out if the time to run had finally reared it's ugly head once more.

[Tom Harriman]

Stop it.

The words smashed against his chest like a hammer, and a sudden wave of realisation washed over him. He felt disconnected: saw what his powers were doing from outside himself, without having to feel the insatiable anger that had fuelled it. Horror swept across him and his conviction faltered; his powers followed suit, and Solomon managed to wrestle a sudden wheeze into his lungs.

Tom felt every eye in the room watching him; felt the judgement not only of the genetics he had inadvertently revealed, but also of the way he had chosen to use them. But that paled in comparison to the sense of judgement he rested on his own shoulders, and the shame that gilded it. When he was young, he'd been a hothead; and along with that, his temper had run pretty close to the surface, very little needed to make it leak out. Then he had come when he'd met his perfect nemesis, the one person who could without fail make him erupt with just a few well-chosen words; after them, no other source of irritation came close. His volcano went dormant, and the little things didn't seem to bother him any more; the worst he'd ever been since then was annoyed, the volcano blowing off the occasional puff of steam.

Solomon was the first person in nearly a decade to provoke him to genuine anger, and that terrified Tom: not because of what he'd done, but because of why it had happened.

Alice.

It wasn't anything she'd done, of course: it was all on him. He'd opened his heart, self, and soul to her; but that made him vulnerable, and that was what Solomon had managed to exploit. His reaction to it hadn't been that of a rational human being: he'd fallen back on the one instinct that was always there for him. He'd pushed it away - pushed everything away, literally and figuratively. He didn't protect his emotions with a shield or a guardian: he protected them with a goalkeeper, only really capable of deflecting problems away with equal force. Unfortunately, that keeper was indiscriminate; it kept everything out, no matter what Tom wanted.

Alice.

He thought about going after her, thought about chasing her through the corridors; but why? For what purpose? To say he was sorry? To explain himself? To offer some kind of justification for his actions? Maybe she'd forgive him, and that would be worse; because she shouldn't. Away from him was the smartest place for her to be; in the short term for definite, and maybe beyond that.

He reached for the table behind him, grabbing his napkin and tossing it at Solomon; tossing in the towel, or offering a white flag of surrender, he supposed.

"Clean yourself up," he grunted, and without another word and his eyes down-turned, made his slow and solitary way back to his room.

[Diana Latona]

At any point she could have stopped it, she supposed. In truth she had been made more than just a little uncomfortable when Tom had decided to try and crush the life out of her twin. Thankfully the shy violet had managed to speak up and put an end to it. Shame it all had to end with the couple storming off leaving her to deal with Sol. A loud sigh left her as Diana finally got to her feet and walked over to where Solomon was slowly getting back to his feet.

"You look good in red." The chill in her voice somehow had managed to creep all the way into her eyes as she regarded him.

The same gaze was passed over the rest of the restaurant before she shook her head. "If you're done making an ass out of yourself, let's make tracks before we're asked to pay for this shit."

It wasn't quite the dramatic exit the other two had done, but Diana was done with this scene and if Solomon knew what was good for him he'd follow her as she walked out.

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon forced out a grunt, his lungs still not entirely happy about the unfair demands that he was making for them to, you know, breathe occasionally.

He winced, not entirely sure if the pain in his side as he stood was just bruising, or the protestations of a fractured rib. "Don't help me up or anything," he muttered, mostly to himself, heaving against a mostly still intact chair to clamber awkwardly to his feet. He caught a few looks in his direction, and while ordinarily he was relatively fond of being the centre of attention, this wasn't particularly his preference.

Something about the stares just didn't sit right. "Oh, don't worry folks," he uttered angrily. "No need to get off your asses and call an ambulance, offer first aid, or anything like that: I'm sure I'm perfectly fine."

He shook his head, still muttering to himself as he fell into step behind Diana. "Mundanes, man," he muttered. "Would it kill them to actually give a damn for a change?"

[Diana Latona]

She couldn't answer him, wouldn't. If she started to speak now it would just come pouring out in a torrential downpour that she really didn't feel like addressing in front of any sort of audience, even if it was just the horrified onlookers that watched them walk past. No, Diana waited until they were in the parking lot before holding it in seemed to be far more trouble than it was worth. Two more steps were taken just so they were in the clear of any parked cars before she rounded on him.

"What...the...fuck... Sol?" He opened his mouth to reply and she instantly cut him off. "Don't. Okay, just don't. You want to aggravate the shit out of Harriman and his pretty little broad that's one thing but 'slutting it up'? What kind of bushwa was that? Trying to make buddy buddy by calling me a whore doesn't help anything. And then you go mouthing off until the guy goes apeshit and what am I supposed to do? Just sit there and play stupid while he tries to kill you? For all we know they can leave tonight and this whole damn thing has gone tits up! And...and...seriously? Everything at your arsenal and you come at me? You aren't that damn drunk, Solomon Latona and we both fucking know it!"

She didn't care exactly what she was saying, Diana had never really been the one with the biting commentary that came quickly to mind but Solomon knew her damn well enough to know when he'd sliced into her and hit a nerve. Even if all he was going to do was pour some lemon juice and salt into that wound she had to say something.

"I'm not the fucking enemy, Sol..." Her voice faded, awaiting the inevitable backlash.

[Solomon Latona]

Sol had known it would be coming; it was a tactical gamble with consequences, and his mind had been preparing to explain that ever since the words had tumbled from his mouth. But now the time was here, he couldn't muster them. He sucked on his teeth; manifested an expression half way between a winced smile and a grimace; couldn't keep his eyes away from the concrete floor.

"No, Diana, you're not."

His voice was weirdly quiet; far too subdued to be normal for him.

"What you are," he continued, "Is a god damned paragon of virtue. You read the same profile as me; you read the same stuff about how Harriman's sister was an in. But how the hell am I supposed to bond with the guy over his needy whelp of a sibling when mine is so damned perfect, huh? What does that give me to work with?"

He managed to drag his eyes to her face; wished he hadn't; wished he didn't have to look at the anger in her eyes. His gaze retreated again. "So, I pretended you were me. Went through that little list of all the things you think ain't great about me. Acted like you were the same waste of blood and bone that I am most of the time. And then yeah -"

He tilted his chin defiantly.

"- I got the guy worked up, because I was doing our job. Objective One, make contact. Objective Two, earn their trust. Objective Three, feel out their powers if possible." He shrugged. "Don't know about you, but I walked outta there with a pretty good sense of what the deal with his powers is; and instead of blowing our cover, he just thinks I'm a drunken asshole. Better yet, he feels worse because I pushed enough buttons to make him overreact; so when you go and apologise for your idiot brother tomorrow, he's gonna apologise right back."

He probably should have left it there, but he didn't.

"See, that's the problem with that judgemental rod you shove up your ass whenever I'm around. You think so little of me that when I play it up, act the asshole, you buy it; all in. There's no way that dumbass Solomon could possibly have a plan. There's no benefit of the doubt. No faith."

The muscles in his jaw bunched.

"You've known me my whole life, and you still don't trust me one damn bit."

[Diana Latona]

Diana stood there, wearing what was probably the most stupid expression of complete dumbfoundness ever. At first she hadn't been quite sure if he was mocking her or not and then he'd just kept going. Yep, salted the wound, stitched it up and cut her a new one for the fuck of it. It was her own damn fault for opening the door to it and as much as she wanted to just brush it off and call it a night...

"Don't you fucking say that. Don't you ever..." Diana wanted to chalk it up to watching her brother get smashed into the floor or woman problems or something. There had to be some damn reason she was on the verge of tears during what should have been a routine bullshit task dolled out to them by the powers that be.

So she responded in the only way she knew how. Given time, Diana could make prose worthy of even the sappiest of Hallmark cards or hate filled ballad of the wronged, but in the here and now there was only one thing to do. It took some effort, what with her brother being nearly a foot taller than her but she suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"You're the only person I do trust, you idiot. It's just this fucking job... you try playing Sorority row completely sober with two nitwits all day and see if it isn't taxing." A small laugh left her before her hand suddenly found his side and she jammed her finger into his ribs, right where he'd always been ticklish. "Just let me in on the damn plan next time, okay? You know I hate surprises."

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon wanted to wince at the pain in his ribs she inadvertently called - and the knee-jerk reflex to recoil away from her tickle attempts didn't help, either - but he forced himself not to; forced himself to do absolutely nothing except let his arms find their familiar place across her back, and stand there holding on to his sister.

"No surprises?" he said, his voice still uncharacteristically quiet. "Now where's the fun in that."

He pulled away, reluctantly, and adjusted his expression into a fake scorned frown. "And like hell you trust me. When was the last time you let me order a pizza without pre-screening my topic choices, huh? That right there -" He waved a finger at her for emphasis. "- proves it, undeniably."

He hesitated for a moment. "On a completely unrelated note, I read an article in the news-" He grimaced, correcting himself before he had a chance to. "- US Weekly about the, uh, medicinal merits of pizza." He mustered his most convincing deadpan. "Apparently it's fantastic for split lips, broken ribs, and bruised egos."

[Alice Kelly]

Her mind was a complete jumble of half thoughts and indecision. There were too many things going on, too many factors. Her immediate plan had been simple: get back to the room, get her stuff and get out. Of course, most of her possessions were still in California, but it was just stuff, right? And then there was that nagging little voice that was practically screaming to not go through with it and that was only backed up by the rational thought that Kat must still be in their room and having to dodge her questions was going to be practically impossible. So maybe she should just leave as-is... but she wasn't even dressed in her own clothing...

Wandering footsteps had led back to the hotel rooms anyway as if on auto pilot, only it wasn't the door to the room she was supposed to be sharing with Katrina that she found herself stopped in front of. It was the right thing to do, after all. If nothing else she couldn't just up and leave, not without some sort of explanation, some sort of apology to the guy who had shown her more kindness that Alice ever believed she deserved. There was enough guilt in her life without adding to the possibility that she hurt Tom to it all. Her thoughts backpedaled to the restaurant, to something Tom had said, something he probably hadn't meant to. He'd referred to her as someone he loved.It was a bittersweet concept at that moment and for a split second she thought about the fact she maybe deserved the guilt she wrought upon herself, maybe it would be best to just... go.

Shakily her hand raised as she traced the door's number with a fingertip before her hand clenched into a fist that gently knocked. Alice couldn't deny that she honestly was hoping he wasn't there. It would make things easier.

[Tom Harriman]

Staring at the ceiling didn't help, but it was the only thing that Tom could bring himself to do. The television in the background was just noise - noise interrupted by a nervous flutter of static, he half-noticed; lousy rip-off resort with it's cheap TVs - and the black and white movie playing across it was only making matters worse; there was only one thing in this world that could make stupid zombie movies even borderline tolerable, and she was long gone by now.

His eyes alternated between tracing the architrave patterns on the ceiling, and staring sorrowfully into the back of his own eyelids; he couldn't even muster one coherent emotion to cling on to, ambling slowly amongst an amorphous blob of mostly vague and entirely negative feelings. His fingers drummed absently on his bare stomach, not having bothered to get fully dressed again after the shower he foolishly thought might help make him feel better. There was no 'better' from this, though. As his eyes closed this time, Stop it! echoed through his mind.

Right now, Tom wasn't convinced he'd ever feel better again.

The knock on the door was dainty; Tom almost didn't answer. Probably some hotel employee here for an incident report, or to issue a bill for the damages, or whatever they wanted to do. He wished to every divinity around and listening that he wouldn't have to deal with that, not on top of everything else; but he'd have to face that consequence to his actions just the same as all the others.

He heaved his reluctant muscles out of the bed, and padded in jog pants and bare feet across to the door. The handle took far more effort to open than it should; he swung the door open a crack to see who stood outside.

He froze.

"Alice?"

[Alice Kelly]

"Hi."

It was a stupid thing to say and as soon as it left her she lowered her eyes and pushed back the somewhat less than perfect curls that her hair had become as they fell in front of her vision. Truth was that Alice didn't really know what to say and she had the very sneaking suspicion that anything she tried would come out halfhearted and inadequate. Cliche phrases of can I come in? Can we talk? and similar almost pushed their way out but just couldn't find their way. She could feel a shudder working its way up her spine as everything threatened to fall apart. The last thing she wanted to do right now was become some sort of sobbing mess in front of him...

A breath was taken, betraying just how on the edge she was as it came uneasy. She finally forced herself to look up, to meet the eyes she knew all too well and still found herself completely absorbed by. Damn it all...

"I don't want to go. I don't want to start all over again somewhere else... I don't want to leave." Her shoulders slumped in resignation. There was no way back from it all now. "I love you. And I don't want that to go away."

[Tom Harriman]

Those three words, and everything changed. Tom's features rippled, shifting between confusion, surprise, and disbelief, a smile all too eager to push it's way through and take over. His mind abandoned it's racing, and left him stalled, dumbfounded, standing in the half-open doorway living a moment he'd daydreamed so many times and yet, despite practising what he'd say over and over again in his mind, found himself utterly at a loss for words.

No words then.

The door was abandoned, swinging open on it's own, out of hand and out of mind. He took one step, every micron closer to Alice making it feel as if his chest were collapsing into a black hole of nerves and anticipation. His fingertips traced the frame of her face, brushing aside a few loose locks of the hair she so often hid behind, his eyes committing every last detail to memory so that when he closed his eyes, he could spare himself from going another second without being able to see her eyes. His thumb brushed across her cheek, fingers gently shifting to cradle her head in his hands.

His eyes closed, and he kissed her, his heart feeling like it was flat-lining as his lips met hers, fully willing to die of happiness right then and there.

He let his forehead rest against hers; didn't dare open his eyes again just in case it turned out to not be real. "I love you to, Alice," he said, his voice barely louder than a breath. "And I don't ever want you to go."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice giggled, barely, but it happened anyway. She felt, not just that a weight had been lifted, but that she finally understood all those silly lines about floating or flying.

"Then... I won't go anywhere." Her voice was soft, still strangely timid.

Only seconds before had she felt like she was either going to explode or the world was going to fall down around her and now all that was washed away and all it left was him.

And her.

In the hallway.

Her eyes opened slowly to cast a wary glance to either side, suddenly finding the very real and present danger of prying eyes to be more than enough to pull her away from whatever reverie she had been experiencing.

"So, you going to invite me in or do I have to stand around and wait like one of those horrible vampires in your sister's awful books?"

[Tom Harriman]

The struggling smile blossomed in full force. Tom's hands had trailed down and captured Alice's, and much as he wanted to step back and invite her in, he was having a lot of trouble convincing himself to let go of her dainty fingers. He succeeded, eventually, and managed to step back far enough to let Alice into the room.

As the door clicked closed behind her, Tom suddenly became aware of his circumstances. Alice had seen him without a shirt before - he was notoriously bad at remembering to take such things with him into their apartment's shared bathroom, so the occasional glimpse of him wearing nothing but a towel wasn't all that remarkable. But this was different; or at least, it felt like it should be.

"Hang on," he half-muttered, eyes scanning the room for discarded clothes before deciding that grabbing something fresh from his suitcase was probably the smartest option, considering. "Let me grab a shirt."

[Alice Kelly]

It didn't seem to matter what had just been said, she still felt like herself. Which meant all the uncertainty and slight unease was still there, to some extent she probably figured it always would beuntil she could bring herself to find some way of not being so aware of herself, of what she was, of what she could do if things... well, if things happened like they had back in the restaurant. One step at a time.

Her eyes watched him as he moved about and came to rest on the television. That alone brought another smile. She knew he secretly hated the types of movies she found irresistible. He was too hard wired to look at things scientifically to simply let yes, the undead walk and they eat people sit without some sort of detailed explanation. The fact it was on was comforting somehow.

"Look... Tom... about what happened back there..." And the words failed again. Apparently one large thing she had been holding back on was her limit. Her fingertips wound around a strand of her hair as she forced herself to continue. "I'm not mad or anything. It was just... a bit too much for me."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom's shoulders fell.

"You should be," he countered, pulling the t-shirt over his head. He couldn't bring himself to face her; stared at the wall for a few moments instead. It shouldn't have been difficult - if he could spent every waking second with his eyes on her, basking in how lucky he was to even know her, he would - but it was. Maybe he was just worried about seeing something disapproving in those beautiful eyes.

He risked it, turning to face her, brow furrowed with sadness. "I shouldn't have-, I mean-, I didn't -"

He sighed, eyes falling to the floor. "I've never done that before," he admitted. "Never lost control; never had my powers be so intense. I could have seriously hurt that, guy, and the only excuse I have -"

He stumbled over a breath; feeling gravity tugging at his tear ducts, he turned his eyes to the wall, ceiling, table, anything but her to blink them back under control. The breath that escaped him stuttered a little. "The only excuse I have for half-crushing a guy with the power of my mind is that it kills me to see you not smile, and he -"

He sighed. "He didn't deserve that. And what I did?"

He managed to meet Alice's gaze. "Honestly, Alice, I'm pretty damn terrified."

[Alice Kelly]

It was strange to hear her own fears coming from his lips, his every action echoing her own mental battle... even stranger perhaps was her reaction. A few slow but deliberate steps were taken until she was near Tom again, her hand reaching out to his arm before trailing down to intertwine her fingertips with his.

"Don't be. I know that's easier said than done, but you don't need to be. We all get a little out of hand occasionally and hell, that guy was seriously being a jerk. He knew he was pushing your buttons... For all we know he could have just been looking for a fight." A sigh left her as Alice looked for his eyes to meet hers. "I know that doesn't make things any better right now but the thing is... what you're feeling right now, that is what lets me know that things will be okay. Anyone with your abilities could have done that but the fact that you care, that it bothers you... That is what makes you... you."

Her free hand reached out as fingertips gently made contact with his cheek. "Accidents happen. All you can do is learn from them, you only have to be afraid if you can't do that."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom leaned his cheek into Alice's touch, all the tension, guilt, and negativity drawn out of him like poison from a wound. His hand gently traced up her arm to take hold of hers, keeping it in place as he planted a solitary kiss onto the heel of her palm; everything but her and him fell out of his mind, and at last everything felt right with the world.

He finally let her hand fall away, but only so that he could wrap his arms gently around her, marvelling at how the way her curves fit exactly with his proved just how perfect she was.

"I love you," he said softly, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth as he placed another single kiss atop her head this time. "You have no idea how much."

[Alice Kelly]

Whatever fluttery feelings inside that Tom used to cause her had suddenly seemed to be at least doubled every time he said those words. It made the moment all that much more bittersweet. Hearing that he actually genuinely felt the same as she did was more than she had ever hoped for... but at what cost? Were the colors around her radiating suddenly more vibrantly? Would every radio within a mile suddenly be unable to transmit anything but static? Or was it the far more terrifying unseen consequences? The really scary thing was at that exact moment she honestly wasn't sure if it wasn't worth it just to be as close to him as possible.

All the better was the fact he wasn't fighting her anymore on the incident, which meant that she at least had made some sort of sense to him. Which was great, because as far as she was concerned her words had been weak, just off the top of her head and she thought for sure they wouldn't work on any level.

"I have my guesses." Alice half mumbled the words as she leaned into his hold.

The illusion of safety was a welcome distraction, if only for a little while she could just be. There was a calmness to it all that she hadn't felt in a long time. Home. She'd muddled over the word earlier but now it seemed right. This was what that was supposed to feel like.

A small and sudden laugh left her as something other than her heart stirred inside of her. "So...You want to see what the local Chinese takeout is like? We never really did get to dinner."

[Tom Harriman]

"In a minute," Tom required quietly. "I'm not ready to stop holding you just yet."

He stood, arms around her, for as long as he felt he could get away with. It felt almost like time stood still and yet, even an eternity holding her didn't feel like it would be long enough. With a great amount of reluctance he let his arms fall away, but found himself sidetracked by the urge to just stand, stare, and smile at her.

"I'm down for Chinese, on the condition," he finally managed to force himself into saying, "That we double up on mini spring rolls. You always say you don't want any, and then you end up stealing mine... and just because I love you doesn't mean I'm going to let you get away with that sort of shenanigans."

[Alice Kelly]

"Oh, I see, so I got away with it before but now that I've said that I love you and you've kissed me I don't get to? Where's the fairness in that?"

Alice wanted to be sarcastic, maybe pretend to be serious for a moment just to be playful, but the silly smile on her lips just refused to leave and it colored each word. Her hands had found his again despite the constant worry in the back of her mind, but even that was having a hard time keeping up with the dizzy thoughts that touching him caused. Part of her still felt like this was some sort of odd dream, that maybe she had come completely undone in the restaurant and this was where her mind had trapped her there. Maybe that was why she just couldn't seem to pull away from him fully, contact was the only thing keeping her aware of the fact it was real.

It took her a few moments to realize she'd just stopped and had been lost in the entire moment again. Get a grip, Alice... sheesh. It hasn't really changed anything, has it?

"Fine fine, if you insist. It's not like you can ever really have too much of good thing. At least not where spring rolls are concerned." Or other things...

Tempting fate she found the heel of one of her feet lifting a she gained just enough height to be able to bring her lips to his again, placing a soft, barely-there kiss before caution forced it to end all too quickly.

"I'll... see if I can find the telephone book."

[Tom Harriman]

You don't need to take things from me. Just ask. I'll give you everything.

That thought floated through his mind, but thankfully he kept it away from his vocal chords. The panic that she might run away from the L-word had passed, but his chest still clung on to a few strands of residual anxiety, paranoid that this new situation was too delicate and fragile to be anything but hyper-careful.

And then she changed everything. She kissed him.

On paper, it probably didn't seem that different. Two willing parties; mouths touching; follow-up smiles all round. But what mattered was that it was Alice's choice; her initiative, her decision. She wasn't getting swept up, overwhelmed by his emotions and just along for the ride. It stopped being just words at that moment; stopped being a spoken 'I love you', and started feeling true.

His heart shimmered away like an alien abduction. He didn't need it in his chest any more: she'd stolen it, and he never wanted her to give it back.

"Menu is, uh -" He mustered a sheepish smile. "- by the phone."

A pang of sorrow flickered in the cavity where his heart didn't need to be any more. "I was gonna order, since -" His eyes fell. "Since I didn't think you'd ever want to see me again."

[Alice Kelly]

"Tom, you really think you could chase me off so easily?" Alice couldn't keep the hint of concern out of her voice, it thankfully masked the fact that her words were lacking in conviction.

It wasn't that they weren't true, there was very little that came to mind that Tom could do to force Alice away from him. In this case as in many she was her own worst enemy. Every time Tom brought up what could have happened if this were some alternate reality where she found her fear outweighed her genuine attachment to him...

A low sigh left her. "You worry so much...just, relax, okay? I'm not going anywhere. Not now."

[Tom Harriman]

Yeah, I kinda do.

It wasn't a judgement on Alice; quite the opposite, in fact. Sure, she was nervous at times, and from what Tom knew about her history - which she hadn't shared too much of, and Tom had been too respectful to pry - he knew that she had the entirely understandable habit of retreating when things got bad. That wasn't something that Tom judged in the slightest: with the military, with New York, he'd done the exact same thing. Sometimes, it was just the smart thing to do.

And yet, for the entire time that Tom had known her, he couldn't think of a more caring, dedicated, and loyal soul. She could have run to avoid the sadness when his father had died. She could have run from the awkwardness when his sister had moved in. She could have run from the legal ramifications when she'd found out about his vigilante activities. She hadn't. She should have, but she hadn't.

That was the problem, that should. He could spend a week writing out the reasons that I love you had been wanting to burst out of him and he still wouldn't get them all; but he couldn't think of a single reason for why Alice had said it back. It felt like borrowed time; some cosmic accident that would correct itself and screw him over.

Forlorn still written all over his body language, Tom eased himself onto the edge of the bed, digging around in his pocked for his cell phone. "Here, use my -" he started saying, pressing down on the unlock button, but the phone stubbornly refused to react. He frowned at it, tried powering off and on, but nothing but a black screen reacted.

"Huh," he muttered, suddenly distracted by the minor mystery. "Guess the battery died."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice felt a small frown tugging at her lips. Coincidence... Though she knew very well what would happen if she went to check her own. Oh well, it wasn't the first cell she'd burned out and probably wouldn't be the last. At least she'd finally given up on trying to buy anything nice. She could only hope that Tom had been far enough away that it maybe only killed the battery... Honestly Alice, you're going to worry about the guy's cell phone now?

"Left the charger at home again?" It was the first thing she could think of saying, but it was certainly better than Yep, it's dead, I kind of have that effect on things.

What was supposed to be some good natured internal personal jabbing turned into a sudden spike into her chest that threatened to take the air right out of her. She found herself swallowing down the feelings as she made her way over to the bed. "Thank goodness for crappy old land-lines, eh?"

Oh. My. God. I didn't just... She quickly snatched the menu off the table and pretended to be very very interested in what it had to offer.

[Tom Harriman]

The momentary telephone conundrum had been enough of a distraction to reset Tom's mind and forget all of the worries he'd been contemplating moments before. Instead he found himself perched on the edge of a bed, little more than an arms reach away from where Alice stood as adorably half-nervous as ever, wrestling with the urge to reach out, run his fingertips across the small of her back, draw her into his arms and never let go.

The list of reasons not to do that was considerably shorter than it had been ten minutes ago, and yet still he resisted, allowing himself only to reach out and ensnare her hand in his, gently enough to not startle her but still attract her attention. "We both know," he teased, with a hint of a smile, "That no matter how many times either of us looks at one of those menus, we always order the exact same thing. In fact -"

His eyes fell away from hers for a moment, focused on her delicate fingers as he drew them to his lips for a kiss. His gaze returned to hers, and his mouth quirked into a smile.

"- I bet you," he suggested playfully, "That I can guess every single item you'll want, including any on-a-whim extras, without a single word from you. And if I'm right, if I win -"

He drew her gently onto the bed beside him, letting his fingers lace with hers as he placed his next kiss softly on her shoulder. His gaze lingered on her perfect features, and yet again his lungs became too distracted to remember how to breathe properly.

"If I win, you give me a smile: because when you smile at me it feels as if time stands still, and I want every single moment with you that I can possibly get."

[Alice Kelly]

"Okay..." As if he really had to worry about her not smiling.

That wasn't the hard part at the moment, the hard part was trying to keep some strange self-consciousnesses to crop up as he had kissed her shoulder. Up until that moment she had somehow manged to forget the way she was dressed. It had just been her and Tom, now it was back to Tom and her in the fancy dress she didn't even own that exposed way more skin than she was used to.

Alice slowly passed him the menu, completely ignoring the whole and if I win scenario part of their bet. That was the thing about Tom she hadn't been able to really say before, every moment they were together she felt like she had won at something. Cheated life somehow, managed to get a little bit of payback at the universe for everything else. At times she guiltily had wondered if she hadn't actually gotten the better of the deal but that was always shoved down deep and freshly overcome with nervousness that karma had heard her and would turn things around at any moment.

The small smile that had been a constant grew again as she laughed slightly and shook her head. Why was she so skittish about this whole thing? This was Tom. The same man she had hit with a pillow and told to move over on the couch before, the same man she had once stumbled on half naked in the middle of the night and helped bandage a particularly nasty wound he had obtained from his vigilante activities, the same exact Tom that he had always been and she always hoped he would be. Alice forced herself to take a deep breath and pushed herself back onto the bed so she could sit on it with her legs tucked under her.

"But if you get anything wrong, you owe me one of those strawberry martinis you tried earlier."

[Tom Harriman]

Tom felt his breath catch a little in his chest. She could have asked for anything, she could have asked for the whole damn universe if she'd wanted to, and he would have given it to her. Instead, she asked for the sweetest, most innocent little thing.

He kissed her again; he couldn't stop himself, it felt like if he didn't he'd split in half. "Anything you want," he whispered breathlessly, trying to restrain himself to just a single kiss but forced to persist a few times before his lips finally got the memo. In the end he tore himself away, his cheek brushing hers as he allowed himself to place one more kiss, on the slope of her jaw. "Anything, any time. All you have to do is ask."

He lingered, head resting against hers as he gazed down at the sculpted curve of her neck and shoulders. He realised that it was a sight he hadn't really been treated to much before; Alice didn't exactly hide herself away, he'd certainly never seen her wear anything that flattered her often hidden curves the way tonight's dress did. He was glad for that: glad she'd stolen his heart before she'd caught the attention of other parts of his anatomy.

His brow twitched into a slight frown. "Kat made you wear this, didn't she?"

That made him angry, and grateful, and then angry that he felt grateful. He wasn't like that. The way he felt about Alice wasn't like that. She didn't need dresses or make-up or extra curls in her hair to trick him into thinking she was more beautiful; to his eyes, being more beautiful than she looked every single day was a scientific impossibility.

He pulled away, his face a confused mix of frown and thought. "Don't move," he insisted, and dove across the room for his suitcase, rummaging out a grey and slightly worn hooded sweatshirt, and a matching pair of workout pants. "Here," he said, handing them over. "You don't -"

He hesitated, unsure how to finish that sentence. You don't need a dress to make me think you're beautiful? You don't look comfortable? You don't want to get cold? You don't want to be wearing something that I desperately want to tear off you?

"- want to be lounging around eating Chinese and watching zombie movies in something like that," he settled on. Not a great choice, but it would do.

"I'll -" he started to say, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to the bathroom, but he didn't finish. It was probably for the best: I'll go hide in here because I don't trust myself not to look while you're changing, probably wasn't the best thing to say at a moment like this.

[Alice Kelly]

Alice felt her head tilt to the side slightly, eyebrows arching upwards as she looked from Tom to the clothing in his hands. She wasn't sure why but at that moment the plan he had come up with was just about the sweetest gesture she could ever think that anyone had ever done for her. A tiny laugh left her as she stood up and took the offered clothing.

"What you'll do, is order the food while I go in there and get changed." She spoke slowly, casually gesturing with hands and eyes to emphasize the point.

Watching Tom act about as disjointed as she often felt was endearing and she wasn't quite sure how to make him stop before it caused a chain reaction and she started being the same way. There really was only one solution and that was to try and make things easier by playing along. They'd both had enough stress throughout the day that now really wasn't the time to be adding to it.

Another quick kiss was stolen before she waved him towards the telephone. "Remember, you have to get everything right or I win."

Okay, so maybe those words didn't help matters but Alice was hoping the way she'd said it was more comforting than antagonistic. Without waiting to find out the results she made a hasty retreat to the bathroom to rid herself of the dress and slip into something that genuinely would be more comfortable even if it was over-sized.

[Tom Harriman]

Sure, that was the smart plan, the logical plan. Him stay in the big room with the phone; her go into the small room with no windows.

Except that this way around, Tom had to concentrate on making a phone call while fully aware of what was going on not five meters away, and he didn't even have the option of hurling himself into a cold shower to clear his head.

He slumped onto the bed; grabbed the phone and punched in the necessary digits to make an external call. While it rang he kicked his feet up, trying to get half-way comfortable and back into the sweet spot that seemed to be the only place where aiming the remote in the vague direction of the TV seemed to actually have some kind of effect. The audio muted just as a black-and-white zombie shoved it's arm between to stupidly placed planks that clearly weren't going to provide any kind of structural protection against any sort of external attacker. There wasn't even any cross-bracing, it wasn't secured at the centre... a couple of swift kicks to the middle and either the wood would snap in half, or pop right off the not even hammered in all the way nails.

He sighed in frustration, just as the restaurant picked up. Awkward timing as always.

He ran down the order; double spring rolls of course, and double the crispy seaweed because no matter how much they thought they were going to consume, there always wasn't quite enough. He went with his standard reliable choice for himself - beef, black beans, chilli, green peppers - and threw in the Szechuan crispy beef that he always used to gauge whether a takeaway was good or terrible. He almost ordered something sweet and sour for Alice, but between the dress, the spa, and how self-conscious he knew she must be feeling, he settled on one of the vegetable dishes instead; something with plenty of bamboo and water chestnuts, lots of crunch without too much calories. They offered him special fried rice, and considered his options; picked the one with the prawns and things in, which he hated but she loved.

And that was it; his guess. To be honest, the thought of winning had completely fallen out of his head. The door to the bathroom opened, his stomach knotted, and he made a mental note to never wash that sweater ever again.

[Alice Kelly]

Alice ran a hand through her hair, using fingertips to comb out more of the curls that had been imposed upon it. Although she felt like a kid that had wandered into an older brother's wardrobe, Alice did have to admit that she felt more cozy than before and that instantly took a weight off of her. It wasn't that the hotel room looked any less foreign, or that Tom didn't look any more comfortable, or even that she felt like anything had really changed aside from the fact she just felt more like herself. Comfortable clothing, a crappy movie on the television, and a spot next to Tom that was waiting on her so she could listen to him point out all the scientific impossibilities of what they were watching while she argued that it was make-believe and fiction so you needed to suspend disbelief. Different location, but it still felt right all the same.

Her footsteps shuffled across the floor as she made her way to the other side of the bed and quickly crawled on top of it and fidgeted until she found just the right spot that was close enough to Tom that she didn't feel like she was invading his personal space as she wrapped her arms around her knees as she pulled them close to her. It was a slightly defensive position and the moment she realized it she forced herself to uncurl from herself. She wasn't sure if she should actually stay where she was or follow through with the sudden impulse to tuck herself against Tom's side. The last thing Alice wanted to do was move things too quickly, make him think that she was being fake or too forward or...anything else.

"So," she began, forcing the words out and nodded towards the TV. "Anything good on or are we stuck with the almost-over classic that I can pretty much say every word to?"

[Tom Harriman]

Anything good.

Tom's face twitched a little uncomfortably, something sinking a little in the pit of his stomach. Good was a relative term, and in the context he presumed that Alice intended, the answer was in fact a surprising yes. Unfortunately, that yes filled Tom with a special kind of dread, one that was so hopelessly irrational that he was too embarrassed to really speak about it.

But here was Alice, so nervous she was fighting the urge to curl up into a ball; and him, suddenly extremely conscious of how uncomfortable his arm felt where it currently was, and how desperately he wanted to wrap it around her. If this wasn't the time for sharing intimate secrets, when was?

"You're gonna laugh," he said, doing so a little himself more from nerves than anything else. "But you know how I'm always saying that movies don't scare me, and how you're always saying that I never suspend my disbelief? Well, uh -"

He tried to look at her, but he couldn't quite manage it. Instead, he explained himself to the TV, which helpfully did not have eyes that would be able to judge him for his confession.

"- there is one movie. I must've been fifteen when I saw it. To big to get scared of that sort of thing. In my head, I knew it was all fake, all computers, none of it, was real, but there's this moment, this scene, where -" He grimaced, the point of no return reached. "- a velociraptor breathes on the window, and like, there's condensation, just like there should be if it was real. And sure, there's probably some animatronic head with a pipe shoved up it's nose to do that, and I know that in my head, but in that moment? It totally side-swiped me, and then the thing slowly starts opening the door, and -"

He sighed, shook his head, his cheeks were throwing off enough heat to power a small mid-western town. "Ever since then, every nightmare I've ever had, every anxiety dream, there've been velociraptors coming after me, or the people I care about."

He mustered a sheepish smile. "Jurassic Park terrifies me. And it's on pay-per-view."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice listened, withholding judgement and only let the smallest of "Heh."s leave her. After all, she was scared of bees for crying out loud and knew damn well you didn't get to pick your illogical fears; the brain just did what it wanted sometimes. The only real sense of discomfort from the whole thing came from the fact he was suddenly outpouring information about himself like he wanted to abandon all secretsbetween them - and she liked it. She would gladly listen to him talk about himself all night if he wanted, anything to keep her from having to do the same about herself. The guilt of the one-sided started confessions started to creep up on her again and she silenced it with the only thing that had been working - by reaching out and taking Tom's closest hand in both of hers.

"You honestly think that I would make you watch something that would make you uncomfortable like that?" Alice shook her head and let another small laugh leave her as her eyes lowered for an instant before meeting with Tom's again. "Haven't we had enough drama for one day? How about you pick? Anything you want. I'm completely happy just..."

Her voice trailed off as Alice found herself about to say something immensely sappy that she would scold herself for later. A quick re-word in her mind put it into better terms, "...Just being here with you right now."

[Tom Harriman]

"I just..."

Whatever he'd intended to say, that last line from her shattered it into tiny pieces, allowing a stampede of desperate urges to swarm throughout his mind. Chief amongst them was the urge to pull her close to him and hold her tight, so intense his arms practically aching as they begged him to. He satiated himself by merely taking gentle hold of her hand, resting on the cavernous and unwelcome canyon of bedsheets between them.

"I like being vulnerable around you." The words sounded so thin and pathetic as they tumbled from his lips; he fixated on her fingers, his thumb gently stroking against the side of his hand. "Whenever I'm around you, I get so nervous. Scared, even. I feel it right there burning away in my stomach. I worry about what you'll find out about me, and what you'll think about me when you do. But every time you find something out, you just smile and look at me the exact same way. You don't judge. You don't run away. You just -"

He managed to drag his gaze to meet hers, and it felt like a supernova in his chest as he did. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips, and he didn't want to. "You just keep looking at me with those beautiful eyes, and it makes me the happiest man alive."

He swallowed, trying to force a little more confidence into his voice. "I wear masks and disguises all the time. And it's not just the hood I wear at night. At work, when I put on that lab coat, I hide behind it. People look at me and they see a scientist. Or they look at the suit and tie and they see a teacher, or a businessman, or whatever it is that I am that week. Back in England, all they saw was the uniform, and so I was just a soldier. Kat looks at me, and all I am is her big brother. And because no one ever saw the whole me, just some aspect, I never was the whole me."

"But you?" He raised her hand, and pressed it gently to his lips. "When you look at me, all you ever see is Tom. And because of the way I feel about you, I -" His smile flickered. "- I want you to know what that really looks like. Every single broken, damaged inch of who I am."

His eyes fell away, embarrassment ravaging his cheeks again. "So lets watch dinosaurs. And when the velociraptors show up? It won't be so bad, because I'll be with you. And that makes everything better."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice never thought she would ever understand songs that talked about liking the way something hurt. There was no way Tom could know about the conflict within her. All she wanted to do was pull herself close to him and explain everything. But that vision, that one of the man she loved suddenly taking back everything he said, the one of him pulling away from her as if she was just as dangerous as she felt, it kept replaying over and over in her mind every time Alice even began feeling the tugs of courage.

It wasn't that she had to force the smile that remained, it wasn't the mask that viscous little part of her mind was claiming it to be - but some part of her genuinely wasn't sure if within the next second she would be laughing happily or smudging her makeup as she fought to keep emotions under control.

No... she'd keep silent, again. Tom was practically serving up every opportunity to speak on a silver platter and she was turning them all down in favor of just keeping him how he was now. He seemed happier than he had since they had left Los Angeles and she wasn't about to do anything to jeopardize that. And that also included keeping her distance no matter how badly she wanted him to hold her, to make everything seem like it would be okay.

Alice realized she'd been fidgeting slightly, at some point had slowly pulled her hands from his and was now twisting the bottom hem of the sweatshirt in her fingertips while listening to him talk and waging war on her own mind. She nodded her head, hoping desperately that she looked more bashful than like some nervous wreck.

"Well then, if you insist. Dinosaurs it is. I think I can manage to keep you safe from them, I'll just call on my zombie hordes to overwhelm and distract them while we make a quick escape."

[Tom Harriman]

She let go of his hand.

She was nervous; he could see the fidgeting, knew what it meant. He knew it didn't mean anything, or at least that it didn't mean anything bad. She was holding back, protecting herself, and that was the only thing that anyone in their right mind could have expected her to do. Even so, he'd opened his heart, exposed himself on purpose, and she'd pulled away. Let go of his hand.

He locked his expression in place, not allowing the look of understanding disappointment form on his brow. His empty hand slowly closed; his chest caved in, echoing the motion. He'd gone too far. Too fast. Pushed too hard. He'd let himself get carried away, caught up. He should have known better: he'd been wrestling with these feelings for far longer than she'd harboured her own, so of course she wasn't as ready as he was. It was stupid. His fault. All on him.

Trying to keep as upbeat as he could, despite the urge to slump against a wall and curl up into a ball, he swung his legs off the bed and sat up. "I'm gonna grab a glass of water," he explained. He mustered a quick smile. "You know, to help keep watch for the T-Rex. Can I get you anything?"

[Alice Kelly]

She could see it... the slight slump in his shoulders, that expression he always put on when he was expecting her to react badly to something. They were so minute, such tiny things, and yet she could pick up on them as if he were portraying it so someone across town could see them. If her mind hadn't been in frantic mode she might have been amazed by that little factoid. But as it was, there was a sudden tightening in her chest as the horror in her own head was starting to come to life. What had she done? What had she said? A flicker out of the corner of her eye brought everything into sudden realization, the gaudy colors of the blanket bedspread under them were wavering, twisting, swirling around every place she was making contact with it. How long had that been going on? Was that what he had seen? Tom was a genius, of course he figured something out.

A sharp intake of breath was taken when she realized that yes, she could still breathe, her eyes shut tightly for a second. Calm down, calm down, calm down... The mantra started and was repeated as she looked back to make sure everything was cooperating once more before she realized he was rising from where he sat.

Her hand shot out, as she forced herself to sit up, quickly grabbing his wrist.

"Don't go. Please." The last word came out far worse sounding than she planned, she wasn't asking, she was pleading with him.

[Tom Harriman]

"Go?"

The word tumbled from his lips amid horror and confusion, his chest suddenly a glacier that sent chilling cold to every extremity as he stared down at her hand on his arm, and the look in her eyes. Oh god, her eyes.

It melted in an instant, and before he knew it he was back beside her, arms pulling her towards him whether she was willing or not. His hold on her wasn't tight, but it was firm and resolute, as all encompassing as he could muster.

"Never," he almost whispered, resting his head atop hers. "There is not a force, not a word, not a thing in the whole universe that will ever be able to take me away from you. Nothing."

He nestled a kiss amid the waves of her hair. "The way that I feel about you, the way that I love you, there's no stopping that. It's a chain reaction. Nothing that happens, nothing that's said, nothing that you do or don't choose to tell me, or anything that happens is going to change that. You are -"

His voice fluttered; cracked a little. "- you are perfect, and that's not a sliding scale. You can't get any more or any less: you just are. That's not hyperbole, that's not opinion, that's fact. You are the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person in all of existence, and anyone or anything that tries to tell me different, tries to change my mind, is wrong."

He took hold of her hand again; placed it against his chest; held it there, palm against the thundering beat beneath his ribs. "That thing? That's just the pump that makes my blood go round. My heart is yours, Alice. It's impossible for anyone to take it, or me, away."

[Alice Kelly]

"What about..." The words came out softly, hiding the fact she barely had control over her voice any longer. "Things you can't see."

Alice was trembling, could feel the tiny shivers running up her spine and into her hands and yet his arms were there, around her. There was no fighting it anymore, she couldn't, didn't have the strength to, not after what Tom had said. The way everything had been worded, passionately and carefully. She could hold everything in forever, never change, and he wouldn't judge. But he loved her and that meant all of her. Didn't he have a right to know? Wasn't he worth that to her?

"You know, sometimes, when we have the radio on in the kitchen and you say something and I laugh and it seems like the music cuts out...?" It was an awful example to start with. She now knew very well that in those instances Tom was paying attention to pretty much everything but the silly radio.

Words were failing, thought was failing and so once more she pulled her hand away from him but instantly made up for it by pressing herself into his hold. No, there was no explaining this. All she could hope was that what she planned wouldn't have any further consequences.

The hand he had placed to his heart was raised up and she shut her eyes. It had always been an involuntary action but sometimes, just sometimes, she could make it work... If she focused very hard on one single emotion, how it felt.

Fingertips stretched out as she let it all go, she couldn't bring herself to look back to Tom for his reaction as she watched the soft light, not quite blue, not quite green, but a multitude of shifting colors of every hue slowly form and wrap itself around her, rippling and drifting away as her fingertips moved.

"That's the only good thing I can do with it." There was no hiding the sadness in her voice, nor that hint of terror at her own self.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom watched, with a new look in his eyes. It wasn't the terror or horror that Alice expected though; and while the unwavering love was still there, it was joined by something new.

Wonder.

"That is -" He was at a loss for words. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Part of his mind was racing, pulling out every word, term, definition, and explanation it could think of for the scientific marvel that was being portrayed in front of him. But those weren't the words he needed right now. He didn't need to explain what he was seeing to a class, or in a scientific paper. He needed to explain it to someone much more important. The only someone that mattered.

"It's beautiful, Alice. It's -" He struggled for the words, tripping over his awe and a sense of joyful desire that snared his chest like a net and tried to drag him down into an endless embrace with the woman in his arms. "- it's like a little aurora."

He tore his eyes away, though not with any reluctance at all, because their destination was an even more beautiful sight. His fingers traced the line of her jaw, tilted her chin so she was forced to look at him; give him a view of the eyes he drowned in every time. "Thank you," he whispered, an aching moment passing before he let himself place a kiss on her delicate lips. "Thank you for trusting me."

[Alice Kelly]

The soft waves of colored light dissipated as he kissed her, as she couldn't hold on to the emotion that she knew triggered the effect any longer. For one instant she just wanted to remain right where she was, with everything seeming completely at peace for once in her life.

"It's not that I didn't trust you. It's... me." A small shake her head accompanied her words. There really was no holding back now, she'd opened the door and it was like a herd of kittens came storming out. Ideas careening and bouncing off of each other and refusing to remain in any sort of logical order. "Like I said, that's the best of it. Everything else, you can't see, can't even feel until... And I can't control it, not really. Those 'Vitamins' I take? Yeah, actually low dosage Xanax, keeps things from happening. Well, not entirely. Your phone, that was probably me earlier at the restaurant. And..."

Her voice trailed off as Alice noticed Tom's expression hadn't really changed with anything she had said. There was concern, maybe a hint of curiosity in his eyes but not fear, nothing negative reflected back despite everything she was saying. It caused her to stop speaking and let out a slow breath as she slumped against him, her head coming to rest against his shoulder as her arms moved around him. It didn't matter at that moment, what she was, what she did, it just didn't matter. She could try and explain her worries, whatever she actually knew about what the x-gene had caused her to be at another time, maybe later when she didn't feel so completely drained.

The silence that fell between them was once more broken by a soft quick exhale, not quite a laugh, the thought that had occurred to her wasn't exactly funny.

"Aurora... I like that. Far better than Radiation Girl."

[Tom Harriman]

Your phone, that was probably me.

Those words in particular stuck out more than the others; at least, until she rested her head on his shoulder. His mind had raced with thoughts of electromagnetism, of how her ability must be able to manifest in invisible wavelengths as well as the visible, of how understanding the way she was able to manipulate photonic fields could revolutionise every single field of science -

And then nothing. Just her and him. All that curiosity, all that thirst for scientific knowledge, blown away by a concept so perfect and simple that he didn't want to ask a single question.

"Not to mention -"

He let his head rest gently atop hers, and couldn't have kept his eyes open even if he'd wanted to. His mind had already burned her face onto his eyelids, but it didn't matter what he saw any more: this was what he wanted to feel every time he closed his eyes.

"- you make a pretty adorable Sleeping Beauty when I find you curled up on the couch in the mornings."

[Alice Kelly]

A soft laugh left her as she could feel embarrassment threatening to take over. It was strangely welcome when Alice put it up against all the other emotions she had run the spectrum of that night. Not that she didn't appreciate being compared to the iconic perfection that was a Disney Princess, but it was like she had reached compliment capacity and now without the constant dodging of talk about her abilities to distract her from really processing everything it left her to shy away from them like always. Only now instead of laughing and shaking her head as she walked away to keep Tom from watching her reaction she simply hugged herself tighter against him.

"Please don't ever call me that again. Not unless we can figure out how to have me magically change the color of my clothing at will, okay?" Another small suppressed giggle left her. "Of course right now I'd probably let you call me whatever you wanted if it it meant everything could just stay like this forever."

[Tom Harriman]

Colour-changing dress? he mused. With your powers and some fibre optics, I could probably do that.

He kept it to himself though, because he couldn't bring himself to interrupt that sentiment. Aerosmith began playing softly in the back of his mind, but he didn't care. For the first time since he'd known her, Alice seemed completely comfortable, totally at ease around him. The dark secret that he'd already surmised and that she'd been so determined to conceal was exposed; the dancing around it that had occupied so much of their lives could change into the slow, intimate dancing that entered his imagination every time a romantic song came on the radio.

He smiled, and marvelled at how right it was; how well the two of them fit together. How perfect it all was. Nothing could ruin that moment.

A set of knuckles rapped frantically against the door.

[Kat Harriman]

"Tom?"

The knocking became louder.

"You in there, bruv?"

Kat was pretty sure she could make out the sounds of zombie grumbles when she pressed her ear against the door, but admittedly that could just have been Tom snoring. Under normal circumstances she might have left him in peace, but this was important: and not for her usual selfish reasons.

"Look, Tom, if you're there..."

She sighed.

"That Diana girl from the spa, she came to check if Alice was okay, and she told me what you did. What the fuck, Tom? She said you like, nearly killed a guy and Alice stormed off, and now I can't find her, and neither of your phones are working, and -"

She fumbled in her jeans pocket.

"I have the spare key card you gave Alice. I'm coming in. Just... don't be naked, okay?"

[Tom Harriman]

No.

Tom had never felt a word so strongly before. It boiled up inside him; not angry, but resolute; every fibre of his being joined in a chorus of insistence that Katrina would not be permitted to ruin this moment. Tom wouldn't let her barge in; wouldn't let her scare Alice out of his arms. This was all too much, and it was all too perfect; he wouldn't let a single thing disrupt that.

And so he did the only thing he could think of.

He pushed.

This time, it wasn't a person who bore the brunt of his powers, but rather the door. No matter how many times Kat tried to ram the keycard into the door lock, no matter how many times the indicator flashed green, Tom refused to allow the door to move even a millimetre. It was more than he had ever done voluntarily before: the most sustained use of his powers without anger or instinct being involved. His focus was so intense it almost hurt; but every time he felt his resolve waver, the weight of Alice's head on his shoulder redoubled his resolve. Nothing was getting through that door.

Eventually Kat grew tired; Tom caught a few snatches of curse-filled mumbling about fucking swipe cards and why can't they just use keys like normal people? before it turned silent, Kat presumably moving off to resume her search. He felt bad not at least offering her a little reassurance of Alice's well-being, but it was either that or ruin everything; it wasn't even a choice.

"Sorry, my sister can be such a pain in the ass at -"

Tom hesitated at the total lack of response from Alice. He moved slowly, carefully, enough to see the closed eyes and relaxed jaw of someone gripped by sleep. He couldn't help a smile; couldn't help the wave of elation that flowed through him as his mind came to terms with what was going on.

Carefully, he reached for the room's phone, and punched in the number for the front desk.

"Hi? Yeah, this is Room 314. I ordered take-out Chinese a little earlier, but it turns out that we -" His lips were too busy smiling all over again to speak uninterrupted. "- we're not hungry after all. It's all bought and paid for... you guys help yourself."

The phone was settled back in place; Tom shifted ever so slightly, enough to click off the TV, discard the remote, and get his posture just right for the hours ahead. He wasn't tired, but he didn't care: he wasn't going anywhere, wasn't going to move a single muscle lest he ruin their accidental first night spent together in each other's arms.

Gently, he planted another kiss on Alice's forehead. "Sweet dreams, princess," he whispered.

[Alice Kelly]

Morning was, like always, hazy and hard to wake up to. Grogginess always precluded the strange feeling of wondering just where exactly she was for a split second before her mind finally dredged up memories of the night before. The smile of the content was half imagined before Alice realized that something wasn't quite adding up...

She pushed herself up from the bed slightly and looked around before realizing that she wasn't mistaken... Tom wasn't there. The silence that filled the hotel room only proved the point. For a moment she thought about what all that meant, thought about calling out to him in case her brain hadn't quite managed to pull itself from sleep yet and he actually was somewhere nearby. Thankfully she didn't quite get to the panic stages of irrational thought when her hand suddenly connected with and partially crumpled a piece of paper next to her. Alice pushed her hair back as she sat up and willed her eyes to cooperate in such a tenuous task of reading before caffeine.

"Gone for archery. Would have woken you, but couldn't bear to disturb something so beautiful. Coffee on the dresser. See you soon, princess. xx"

So it hadn't all been in her head, after all. Tom always did wake up far earlier than her, so naturally it had made sense for him to find something to occupy his time while she stayed dead to the waking world. Alice read the note a few times, not bothering to hide the silly girlish silliness that completely took hold of her - she was alone after all and really who was going to judge or even stop her from grinning and contemplating hanging on to the note forever. More to the point, he'd prepped the coffee maker and told her right where it was. Alice couldn't help but feel that maybe Tom was too good for her, but for the moment she was going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

[Tom Harriman]

The bowstring creaked.

Tom breathed; not a shallow breath, but a slow and steady one that drained his lungs completely. He held, string drawn back to his cheek, an eye sighting down the shaft of his nocked arrow. The target loomed in the distance; he sighted on the bullseye; shifted high and left to compensate for the wind and the parabola. He held his focus. Held his breath. Released.

The arrow lanced through the target, a few centimetres left of dead centre. Good enough for the Olympics; not good enough for the streets of Los Angeles.

He rolled his shoulders, muscles a little stiff and tender from the night before. The arm was protesting having been lain on all night; the rest of him wasn't. He grabbed another arrow; lined it up on the string. Okay so sure, not everything about last night had been fantastic: the whole nearly killing a guy thing had been a bit of a fiasco. And sure, everyone at the archery range was whispering under their breath, keeping their distance and calling him 'freak'. On the upside, he'd only broken a table, and the resort was insured against acts of drunken violence; and when he'd wandered down to reception, the woman behind the desk had confirmed he was "The free Chinese man", and assured him that the management would be more than happy to cover any costs incurred while teaching misogynistic assholes a lesson.

He drew back the next arrow; thought back to the restaurant, and then to the room; thought back to his powers. His mutant ability had always been minimal: barely useful for anything beyond giving his martial arts or his arrows a little extra oomph. He'd mapped it out in a lab, and as expected his powers had always followed an x2 decay. But last night there had been range; and he'd had both strength and control at that range unlike anything he'd mustered before. The science part of his mind pointed out the obvious common denominator.

Alice.

Sighting down the arrow, he let his mind drift back to Alice. It wasn't difficult: if before Alice had constantly been just the other side of a door in his mind, now she was leaning against the door frame, waiting to smile at him every time he turned his thoughts in her direction. He did so now; held her in his mind's eye as he aimed and fired.

The arrow buried itself so deep in the target's dead centre that the fletching almost touched the paint.

[Diana Latona]

"Nice shot."

As Harriman turned to face her, Diana put her hands up in the international signal for I come in peace. This wasn't exactly the time or place to pick a fight and while this Tom guy certainly didn't seem like he'd hit a woman, Diana still couldn't quite get the mental image of what he'd done to her twin out of her head. Which really left her in an awkward position. What Sol had said the previous night seemed like it would work out but they'd both met enough people in their lifetime to know that it was sometimes hard to predict these things.

"Easy there live-wire, I'm not here to start anything."

Diana bowed her head slightly in order to look at him over the rims of her sunglasses and gave a small shrug of her shoulder as if that coupled with the fact she still looked like she was going for the whole unarmed, seriously thing would explain her perfectly.

[Tom Harriman]

"Right -"

Tom could feel the anger boiling away beneath the surface already. Her voice was a different pitch to Solomon's, but it had the same accent, the same southern twang. He fought his hardest trying to keep it contained; focused on Alice, remembered her eyes, remembered the way he'd felt the first time they'd kissed. The anger retreated a little; not much, but enough.

He lined up another shot. Breathed. Aimed. Fired.

"- starting things is your brother's job."

It made no sense. Solomon was just some guy; some stranger he'd known less than a day, who'd turned out to be different than he'd seemed at first impression. Tom had been beating himself up all morning, demanding an explanation from himself as to why he'd gone so overboard, so overprotective. It felt like there was more going on than just his feelings for Alice; he couldn't quite shake the notion that he was being played.

"Let me guess," he grunted. "You need my details for your brother's medical insurance."

[Diana Latona]

She would have groaned if she could have, instead her expression simply went from hopeful to exasperated. Diana let out half a chuckle at the whole thing before guardedly crossing her arms over her chest and pointed at him slightly.

"Good one." It wasn't quite deadpan, but it was hard to really express that sort sarcastic drivel without sounding like a total bitch and sadly 'total bitch' was exactly what she wasn't trying to avoid at the moment.

With the line delivered she pushed her sunglasses back up onto her nose before letting her hand fall to rest like the other, drumming casually against the back of her arm.

"Yeah, not so much. It's going to sound cheap but I guess I'm here to apologize for him. For us, really. Sol's really not like that..." A small cringe marred her words as she realized it sounded like she was about to gear up towards the land of excuses. One foot was already in the grave, though - might as well continue on. "Not that I'm saying he's blameless, but we've just kinda been hit with some rough family issues lately and he's taking it sorta hard. And by hard I mean on everyone else around him. You're looking at his favorite verbal punching bag so trust me, I know how he can be. So... yeah, sorry about last night. Hell, he probably would have said so himself except when I saw him this morning he was kinda spitting blood and nursing a nasty hangover."

[Tom Harriman]

Excuses. Everyone had excuses. Tom had excuses. Solomon had excuses. Diana had excuses for him.

He loosed another arrow; winced as his frustration sent it off target, missing the bullseye by half an inch. His shoulders slumped and his arms relaxed, bow hanging at his side as he mustered in and out another breath. He turned slowly to face Diana, his back protesting a little: the muscles in his shoulders had been more tense than they should have been when he started, and had taken a beating from the archery for their trouble. Honestly, he was a little glad for the pain; that he felt like he deserved.

"Look -" He started; stopped before his tongue stumbled out anything informal. "- Miss Latona. Your brother got drunk and shot his mouth off a few times; I beat him round the face, and pinned him to a table with the power of my mind. I don't deserve an apology, and I don't want one: not from him, and especially not from his innocent bystander sister who, I'm guessing, finds herself apologising on his behalf a lot."

He felt a note of anger swell at the back of his words; forced himself to stop and sigh before the riptide dragged him under again.

"If anything, the apologies should be going in the opposite direction; I'm not ready to do that just yet. So, if you don't mind?"

He gestured down range towards the target, pointing at it with the tip of his bow. "Unless you're planning on gearing up and loosing a few arrows yourself, I'd rather vent my frustration into inanimate painted circles in peace."

[Diana Latona]

'Innocent bystander', that was a first. It took Diana a bit of self control to not laugh out loud when Harriman had called her that. If it had been someone else maybe she would have nudged them a bit, at least make it seem like she was laughing off the entire conversation, but there was something lurking just at the edge of his words that brought a halt to it. Diana had half wondered if she should just leave it there, march back to the room after rounding up some food and ask when the hell this trip was going to start being fun, but damn it - that wasn't the plan.

Her eyes followed Tom's gesture down range and a slow smirk spread across her lips before she looked back at him. "Well, if you're going to be that way..."

A few steps were taken away and she waited until Tom had turned back towards the targets before, what looked more like a gym bag than anything else, was unslung from her shoulder. A zipper pull and some rummaging around procured an arm guard was that strapped on before Diana almost tenderly removed a simple recurve bow - much like the one Tom had been supplied by the hotel - only featuring, what Di had decided to be, a rather sexy black paint job that looked like frost was creeping up around the grip.

She hadn't bothered glancing over to see if Harriman had even noticed she hadn't walked away fully - he'd get the point soon enough. A roll of her neck was the only motion she allowed herself before the first arrow was nocked, drawn back, and sent down rage to impale the target just to the left of the one Tom had been picking on. First shot was always sloppy, even if she gauged she'd hit only about four fingers distance from the center. Di shook her head, not so much to show disappointment, but more in wondering if she quite honestly was the only person who measured all small distances the same she did her whiskey.

"So here's how this is gonna go." Her eyes were trained on the target as another arrow was readied. "You're going to accept this damn apology whether you like it or not, but we'll make it interesting. How about best out of five wins? I beat you - you buy me coffee and breakfast since I had to stay up all last night listening to my brother bemoan bruised ribs. You beat me and me and Sol pony out the cash for an actually nice dinner - all the bells and whistles at a joint that you have to wear a tie to - for you and Alice, sans Latonas."

Te second arrow was released and planted into the target just to the right of her last shot before Diana cast a glance over at Tom, the sly smile that had started forming earlier now firmly in place.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom let out a sigh; more of resignation than frustration. Privacy was what he was after, not for his own sake but more for those unfortunate enough to be around him; that was the only thing that had managed to drag him away from Alice's side. He wanted nothing more to take out his frustrations on an inanimate slab of painted rope and straw; but if Diana wanted to force him to direct it at her ego and pride as well, then fine.

He readied an arrow; drew in a breath as his eyelids fluttered closed, ears listening to the slow swell and fall of the breeze, learning the pattern of the gentle gusts. His eyes opened narrowly; watched the way the grass bent towards his right shoulder; the way the branches of the trees in the background swayed. He adjusted his aim, ever so slightly, and drew in a breath, mentally consolidating every last vestige of air, energy, anything his body contained into one tight cluster in the centre of his chest. He felt the wind gust again; felt it fall silent. His fingers twitched.

The arrow sailed forward, the collected orb of mental energy chasing hot on it's tail like a hadouken. Perfectly aimed, the headless practice arrow slammed into the rear of his earlier bullseye, hammering it clean through the back of the target and nestling itself comfortably into the hole left behind.

He glanced in Diana's direction, and flashed a not quite entirely forced smile.

"We like Italian."

[Alice Kelly]

The bad thing about waking up where you didn't keep your stuff was, well, waking up without your stuff. The first cup of coffee had been enough to clear most of the morning haze and had been drawn out while rereading the note that Tom had left her. The second had been purely to bolster courage and attempt some form of normalcy, only being half finished before she finally scooped up the dress from the night before and finally left the room was that was supposed to have been only Tom's, which left her taking the short trip down the hall to the room was that was supposed to be hers. And Katrina's.

Despite everything Alice felt a pang of guilt as she began searching the small purse she had taken along on the date for the key card. She was supposed to hang out with Kat, they were the closest thing to a friend that the other hand. It hadn't purely been for polite reasons that the three of them had gotten separate rooms divvied up by gender. A small frown etched itself across her lips as she began anticipating all the excuses she could make while trying to juggle everything in her hands. Not to mention the fact the key to the room was doing its best impersonation of the invisible man.

"Come on... I know I had you when I left."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat's super-hearing was nothing to do with her mutant abilities.

Rather, it was more to do with the fact that she was on a good day unrelentingly curious, and on a bad one hideously nosy and intrusive, with almost no respect - or often even comprehension - for people's boundaries. Also, she was the daughter of someone who, she'd come to learn, was basically a spy; not only did that explain a lot about the in-hindsight strange things that had happened in her youth, but had also honed her senses so that she would notice daddy's stealth approach down the corridor so she could power down the monitor and dive back into bed every time he tried to sneak in and catch her playing World of Warcraft at four in the morning.

On top of that, Kat was completely wired: the seven cups of coffee she'd drunk over the course of the night had left her twitchy, and aside from getting up to pee what seemed like every twenty minutes, she hadn't strayed from her perch on the foot of the hotel bed, knees hugged to her chest, rocking slowly backwards and forwards. If a pin had dropped in the adjoining room, she would have heard it. So when her missing best friend and roommate spoke outside the door not three meters from her face?

Oh yeah. She heard that.

The door was torn open in less than a second, and Kat pounced like a psychotic panther, snatching Alice into a hug so intense that it literally lifted the tiny Canadian off her feet.

"Oh-my-god-I-was-so-worried," Kat slurred, face shoved into Alice's shoulder. "I couldn't find you, and I couldn't find Tom, and, and, and your phones weren't working and then I went to the restaurant and they said there was a fight and I found out where the room was and Tom hurt that pretty man's face and you still weren't there and I just, just, just -"

Her stream of words shattered into an exhausted slump that finally let Alice stand on her own feet again. Deflated, Kat's voice finally slowed. "- I'm just glad you're okay."

[Alice Kelly]

At first there was shock, then that seed of guilt she'd planted at realizing she'd left Kat alone started to grow, slowly pushing itself to the surface, breaking to the top when Katrina had embraced her and started rambling on in a tone that Alice couldn't remember the last time she'd heard a person used. Worried.

"I'm fine. It was just a rough night." The words came out meekly. "I'm sorry I didn't call once..."

Once what, Alice? Once you got to her brother's room? Once you both were done with the emotional roller coaster? Once you woke up this morning? She hesitated as the thoughts tumbled in her head, trying to find a spot between reason and intuition that could account for why it was that Alice hadn't even remotely considered what Kat's reactions to everything last night would be. She knew the answer, and as much as everything she had spoken with Tom about had been important for both of them, it still managed to seemed selfish somehow when you put the third person into the picture.

"...things had settled."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat wasn't entirely ready to release Alice just yet; especially since she'd begun to realise that the shoulder onto which she'd dumped her her head was surprisingly comfortable and padded. She nuzzled a little into the sweatshirt, severely contemplating crashing out right there and then for a long overdue nap. It was kind of a surprise really: Kat's shoulders hadn't looked nearly so comfortable in the dress she was wearing last -

Kat's brow tugged into a frown, her steam-powered brain finally heating up enough to start processing thoughts. Last time she had seen Alice, she had been wearing considerably less than she currently was: a sexy dress which, Kat noted, she was now currently holding in her hands. Which meant she'd changed. But quite clearly, she hadn't changed here: Kat's overnight vigil wouldn't have allowed that to go unnoticed, and even if she had lapsed into sleep, Alice wouldn't have any reason to come back to their room still carrying the dress.

Paranoia sunk in.

Things had settled.

She recoiled away, aghast, her jaw falling open in in Scooby Doo terror. "Oh my god," she muttered; her eyes widened, her gaze frantically checking up and down the corridor. "Oh my god!" she said again, in a whisper that somehow managed to be louder than when she'd actually spoken. "You -" she struggled with the words. "You spent the night, with Tom?"

Kat wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling right now; her expression decided to play it safe and throw up just about everything, from wincing disgust at the mental images that notion conjured up to giddy, squealing schoolgirl glee to eye-rolling relief at the fact that maybe the people she lived with would finally stop being so awkward around each other.

"Oh my god," she muttered again; the more horrified emotions stepped to the front of the stage. "Where you two going at it when I came to his room?"

[Alice Kelly]

Alice was at a loss for words. She'd never been good at confrontations and here was a big one that her mind couldn't even wrap around. Some part of her genuinely wanted to be offended, some part horribly embarrassed, the rest wanting to just shrink away and try and laugh it off. When they merged together all that came out was a horrified choking sound before Alice spat out the one word that seemed to answer everything.

"No!"

No sooner had it left than Alice felt the ability to rationalize things return to her and her head quickly shook.

"He's not like that, Kat. I'm not like that. We just talked!" Alice let out a quick breath and ran a hand through her hair. "We just talked."

[Kat Harriman]

Kat's face scrunched up into a look of narrow-eyed scepticism which probably would have conveyed her mindset pretty well were it not for the fact that the corner of her right eyelids had begun to spasm like crazy from the lack of sleep. She squinted tighter, hoping to bring it back under control; unfortunately that transformed her disapproving sister look into more of an about-to-sneeze pirate.

"Let me get this straight."

Her fingertips pinched at the bridge of her nose, trying to forestall the headache that she hoped was because of this situation and not the probable coffee overdose she'd consumed.

"Tom has been in love with you pretty much since the moment he saw you. Things happen, he finally admits it to you, you go back to his room... and you talk? Just... talk. All night long."

An exasperated sigh escaped.

"God damn it, Hollywood," she muttered. "Stop giving me unrealistic expectations of romance."

[Alice Kelly]

As Kat went on her caffeine induced tirade, Alice simply stood there, slightly dumbfounded. Sure her and Tom had been living together for a while, but to immediately think they would... She found herself feeling insulted again but managed to push past it. The wild look in Katrina's eyes and dark circles that accompanied it definitely meant something was out of the ordinary and once again Alice found herself finding it hard to not point the blame at herself.

"Well, I mean, nothing like that happened, but... Hollywood romance kinda sucks compared to the real thing, I think." The words were half mumbled before Alice brought the almost empty cup of coffee up to take another drink of it, even if it had started going cold.

An awkward moment passed as Alice stood there, watching Kat who looked like she would either topple or explode at any second. A frown began to etch itself across her features and she sighed.

"Look, if you really want to know, I'll tell you the details later. Right now, though, I just want a shower and to change. Not to mention you look like you could use a nap."

[Kat Harriman]

Katrina fixed her with the look.

"Oh no," she contested, folding her arms across her chest for a split second before shrugging out of that gesture, grabbing Alice by the cuff of her sweater. "I know you," she muttered, dragging Alice into the room kicking the door closed behind them, and forcing Alice to sit - gently but firmly - at the foot of one of the unslept in beds.

She retreated a step. "You," she accused, pointing a finger square between Alice's eyes, "Are only saying that because you think me falling asleep will give you the chance to sneak off again and not tell me."

Her arms folded across her chest again, more long-term this time. "You will tell me everything, and you will tell me now," she insisted, "Starting with how the hell that guy made Tom angry, because that's information I need to know."

[Solomon Latona]

"Yeah, yeah," Solomon muttered, holding the room's phone half-heartedly to his ear, instantly regretting the decision to drape the other arm across the pillow above his head. The Harriman guy had roughed him up pretty good, and it had twigged something in his back. It was just a cramped muscle probably, but he'd been too proud and stubborn to admit it to Diana; which of course meant she hadn't done her whole ice pack hands routine and, after a sporadic night of sleep, Sol was really starting to regret that.

As casually as he could, still listening to the voice talking away at the other end of the phone, he tried to position himself in such a way that he could reach for the lighter casually abandoned on the beside table, flick it into life, and borrow a little fire for some soothing back heating action. To be honest, he didn't really remember which way round you were supposed to do it - was it cold for the first few days and then hot, or was it hot for a few days and then cold? - but he did know that his powers meant that fire most certainly wouldn't hurt, but it was worth a shot.

Unfortunately, he overestimated his lean, lost his balance, and deposited himself unceremoniously on the narrow strip of floor between the two beds in his and Diana's twin room. He let out a grunt; the voice on the other end of the phone stopped talking. "Yeah dad," Solomon muttered. "I'm fine."

Stiffly, he clambered back onto the bed, giving up before he managed to roll onto his back and instead remained more or less face down atop the sheets. "Yeah," he answered, another question from his father transmitted down the phone. "Worked exactly like you said it would. Guy flipped out like crazy; hell, he pretty much went full dark side and Vadered me to a table."

The voice began to talk again. I'm fine by the way, Sol mused bitterly to himself. Thanks for asking, dad.

He heard the keycard in the door; heard the lock clunk open and the hinges creak. Not moving, he raised his unoccupied arm and flailed a half-hearted wave towards what was either his sister, or some kind of Russian maid stripper masseuse here to prove that this was actually a dream. That potential wealth of mental images burst instantly however at what his father said next.

"I understand, sir," he replied, managing to insert an almost uncharacteristic amount of seriousness and determination into his voice. "We'll get the job done."

The phone line went dead as his father hung up without so much as a word of goodbye pleasantries; Solomon tried to be equally swift hanging up himself, but the fact that he was facing the wrong way, lying awkwardly, and didn't quite have full motion in his back ultimately made it an exercise in futility. With a grunt of frustration he released the handset and just let it fall; he'd worry about it later.

"Please tell me you're the stripper masseuse," he muttered into the bedsheets, his voice a mix of muffled and sleepily vague. "I don't want to be awake right now if it feels like this."

[Diana Latona]

Diana tried not to laugh, at first it had been a glorious success since no matter how pathetic Sol looked, that whole serious sir thing she'd walked in on kicked all amusement right out the window. She dropped her bag on the chair by the door before pulling free one of the two paper cups filled with the miserable excuse for coffee she'd managed to snag from the hotel lobby from the cardboard holder. It wasn't until Sol finished up the call and mumbled from his faceplant that the laugh finally escaped. Well, somewhat, it was muffled by the fact she was trying to drink the coffee as fast as possible to avoid actually having to taste it. Sad thing was she knew damn well they'd had far worse.

If nothing else it meant she didn't have to come up with some sort of snarky comment to fire back at him. Not that she'd leave it alone - even if it meant there probably wouldn't be any epic duets of Under Pressure on their roadtrips any time soon. She reached out as she'd done before, more mentally than physically but she knew it was really a combo of both that allowed her to suddenly pull together the tiny molecules of water from the air, cram them together and instantly drop their temperature until the back of her brother's shirt was suddenly filled with chunks of ice. She'd had the decency to make them round instead of jagged but Di figured he wouldn't exactly be thanking her for that.

While his sudden squirming was funny, it wasn't nearly good as all the ice related puns her mind started to deliver to the forefront of her thoughts in a ridiculous Austrian accent. She'd pay for it later but damn if it wasn't worth it in the here and now.

[Solomon Latona]

Diana was evil.

Okay so sure, the fact that her little stunt with the ice beads had sent his back into spasms wasn't exactly his first clue. The whole remorseless killing, general disdain for humanity, and the fact that her carelessness had absolutely trashed oh so many of his driving mix tapes had been earlier clues. Then there was the fact that she premeditated everything: Solomon's spur of the moment mischief was countered at a glacial pace, retaliation taken when he would least expect it, revenge being served cold and all that.

He loved her like crazy of course; but it was loathing that was at the forefront of his mind as his futile attempts to wriggle away from the coldness deposited him unceremoniously in the narrow canyon of floor between their twin beds.

"I hate you," he grunted from the carpet, finding himself in a position that didn't hurt but that his spine was very reluctant to release him from; and that he honestly wasn't inclined to voluntarily abandon anyway.

[Diana Latona]

"I know you do." Diana retorted, not bothering to hide the residual amusement she felt.

The small space to the bed she had claimed as hers for the stay at the hotel was crossed and she threw herself onto it as best she could while balancing the two cups of coffee. A beat was taken to stare at the ceiling, take a drink from her own before her hand finally dropped down to Solomon with the other.

"Brought you something. It's shit but it's still hot." She waited until the cup was taken from her hand before she rolled over and repositioned to laying on the bed sideways so she could look down over the edge at Solomon. Her field of vision was only partially obscured by curls of red as she smirked at him.

"So, bad news is I lost my bet." The admission didn't make her smile vanish, didn't even bring out a hint of annoyance. Diana was supposed to lose, though she still had some suspecting belief that Harriman had cheated somehow. "Good news is I doubt we'll have to make good on my end of the deal. Told 'em I left my wallet back here."

Diana eyed the discarded receiver before reaching out to place it back where it belonged. Not that she had any sort of OCD need to fix the problem, it was more that the soft beeping it was making that let you know it was off the hook was starting to grate on her nerves. "What'd dad have to say?" She didn't have to ask who Sol was talking to. There was only one person either of them called sir. "Please tell me I can finally drop this bullshit best friends act. If I have to be nice to these idiots one more time today I'm going to snap."

[Solomon Latona]

"Jeez, Diana," Solomon muttered, stiffly struggling his way back onto his own bed with far too much effort and grunting involved. He tried to slip gracefully onto the mattress, failed, and ended up bouncing a little too far on the springs, landing on his back instead of on his side. He dumped his arms above his head, hoping he could play it off as intentional. "Just chill, okay?"

He stared at the ceiling, wishing he could somehow avoid her question.

What'd dad have to say?

It always came down to that in the end, these days. What did dad want? What were his instructions? What was their bullshit assignment of the week that they wouldn't ever get even a shred of gratitude or recognition for no matter how dangerous it was, or how successful they were? There had been a time when Solomon and Diana had been the masters of their own destiny; a time when the only thing standing between Solomon and what he wanted to do was his ability to come up with a good enough excuse to either trick Diana into agreeing, or distract her long enough to slip away. Now though they were just gophers: a glorified errand boy and errand girl; save this, hunt that; all in the name of family.

The only thing that made their father's instructions worse was when he ordered Solomon to keep them secret: to carry out some hidden agenda that Diana was not privy to. He covered it up as overzealous idiocy, and Diana was used to that; but the fact that he couldn't say I did that because dad told me to ate him up inside, every single time.

He heaved out a sigh. "He says it's time," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his tired eyes, trying to smooth the fatigue out of his face. "And he wants it big enough to grab media attention. Wants to see his oldest on TV, I guess."

[Diana Latona]

"Well it's a good thing I did my hair this morning isn't it?" Diana couldn't contain the grin that spread across her lips as she got to her feet and practically pounded away the last of the horrible coffee.

Whatever weight had been on her shoulders to keep up appearances had been dropped, thudded to the floor and kicked under the bed for good measure. It was time to do what she and Sol did best - which was be themselves. No more games, no more bullshit figuring things out, no more risking each others necks for means to an end, no more Misses Nice Gal. She rolled her head to the side, felt her neck give a few satisfying crunches near the place where her spine met and then looked to her brother. Who... still looked somewhat miserable. It was enough to knock some of the wind out of her and made her shoulders slump, but just barely.

"Aw hell." The barest traces of concern tugged at the corner of her lips, threatening to wipe the smirk right from her. "Bastard got you worse than you're letting on, didn't he?"

With an annoyed huff she sat down on the edge of the bed Solomon was occupying and tried to give off her best devil-may-care attitude.

"Cheer up, down some Ibruprofen and let's go get you some sweet revenge, okay?"

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon let out a grunt.

"You know painkillers and crap like that screws with my focus," he muttered. "Just -"

With a wince of obvious pain at the protests his back was making to movement, Solomon rolled himself onto his side and dumped himself face down once again, face unintentionally and irredeemably buried in the bedsheets enough to muffle his words and inadvertently cause him to find out what they tasted like. He managed to turn his head to the side, grimacing at what tasted worryingly like an undertone of strawberry behind the whole waxy fabric taste and urge to gag.

"Just ice pack me, okay? And no smugness, or gloating, or -"

His voice trailed off, and he seriously contemplating clamping his teeth down hard in order to stop the train of thought that was thundering it's way out the back of his throat, but it managed to be spoken before he got the chance to intervene.

"That guy went full Vader on me, and you just sat there. That startled rabbit blonde stopped him before you even did a damned thing."

He regretted the unfair words instantly, but there was a note - hell, a symphony - of truth to them. It hadn't come out like an accusation, either: none of the usual sass and confidence that his voice usually conveyed, bur rather one of deflated, almost defeated sadness. It wasn't the voice of someone who was trying to strike a nerve, strike a blow, or make a verbal jab: it was the voice of a brother, who felt that his sister - his twin - had let him down, and was too dumbstruck and disappointed to even argue about it.

"You didn't have my back last night. Helping patch it up now -"

He didn't bother finishing that sentence; the rest more or less went unsaid.

[Diana Latona]

It was times like this Diana wondered if she could use her powers internally, freeze her insides until she couldn't feel a damn thing. It wouldn't do any good, though. She could build a wall of ice 700 feet tall and Solomon would still find some way to just melt on through.

She had this coming though, all things considered. Diana couldn't even be mad at him for calling her out on it. Instead the hatred was placed right where it felt most at home as the mantra of continued failure at her one job in life was dredged up. No matter how she tried to figure it out she couldn't escape the simple fact that she hadn't done anything. There had been a time when Diana would have been on anyone trying to hurt her brother in the blink of eye, make the bastard who dared cross them sorry his parents had even met. When had that changed? When had silence and tiny pricks of resentment replaced carefree laughter and an inseparable bond?

Diana knew the answer. It was a three letter word that began and ended with the letter D.

Her throat had closed up on itself and wouldn't let her even attempt any words as the tiny distance between them was closed. Her hands pressed through his shirt, seeking out the mess of bunched up muscles before she slowly focused and felt the palms of her hands becoming as numb as she wished the rest of her could feel.

"You know I wouldn't let anything really happen to you, right?" Diana knew it sounded like she was dead inside as she softly asked a question that she wasn't sure didn't need a reply anymore. There was more she wanted to say but it was bitten back, buried and with any luck would never see the light of day.

[Solomon Latona]

Whatever Solomon had been hoping his comment would achieve, it wasn't this. He wanted fire, he wanted pyrotechnics, he wanted to scream and shout so that he could screw up his frustrations into tiny little cannon balls and blast them out of his throat behind a rapidly expanding wave of probably poorly chosen words. He wanted to tackle the matter head on, deal with it like a wildfire and just incinerate the whole horrible mess so that everything was burned back to the unshakeable bedrock that was the two of them. Underneath it all, no matter what crap was piled on top of them, that foundation was always there.

But sometimes it didn't work out that way. Sometimes it was like trying to fight a glacier with a flamethrower: the tiniest dent did nothing to stop the slow but unyielding advance of ice. It was in Diana's nature, she couldn't change it, and he didn't want to. Even so, it terrified him: a million infernos could rage without harm, but a single glacier could carve out chunks of bedrock with ease. It might take a few hundred years, but once the damage was done, there was no fixing it.

Solomon had read a book once; admittedly it was a book aimed at children, but he'd remembered it's contents none the less. An Illustrated Introduction To Norse Mythology. He'd loved that damned book. In it, he'd read about the way the Vikings thought the world had been formed. Their view of the world stuck a land of ice to the north, and a land of fire to the south: where the two met, the melt water formed a huge ocean in the middle of which Midgard floated. There'd been stuff about giants and carving people out of wood and all manner of weird crap that had shuffled out of his brain, but the fire and ice thing had stuck around. It felt like that between him and Di sometimes: like an ocean had slowly been separating them further and further apart ever since they were kids.

No points for guessing who the jackass island floating between them was.

"I know you wouldn't." His voice was as forlorn as hers: but as the words made it out, they brought with it a sense of relief; a tiny hiss of steam fire and ice met on equal terms; an iceberg breaking away from the north, and drifting to the south as some tiny ice cube peace offering.

A faint glimmer of a smile flickered onto his lips. "Bitch."

[Diana Latona]

A ghost of a smile was pulled from the well she'd cast herself down into. "Jerk."

Just like that the sudden tension in the room was chipped away. It was still there, lingering on the edges and threatening to once more creep in and wedge itself between the two but for now it had been driven back. Maybe one day they'd manage to smash it all to hell, to go back to how things used to be or maybe some new version that was just as unshakeable; Diana just hoped they managed to do it before they wore each other down until they were just shadows of themselves.

It was a problem for another day, though. For now all Diana could do was begin formulating ways to make amends that would slap a band-aid on the slowly seeping wound their lives had become. Thankfully, the same thing that had run them through had presented her with a perfect opportunity. She almost felt bad for the guy they had been aimed at.

[Tom Harriman]

Meal with Alice, Take 3.

Guilt squirmed in Tom's stomach as he weaved his way through the golf club back to the table that he and Alice had claimed. The hushed mutterings of last night's exploits had circulated through the room via convection, and now everyone was making that extra little effort to either stay well clear of him, or to stare at him from what they considered to be a safe distance and make him feel as uncomfortable as was humanly - mutantly - possible. He couldn't blame them, and didn't. If he'd watched a guy Force choke someone into a table, he'd probably be a little wary too. He just wished they'd stop.

Still, as his gaze settled on Alice patiently waiting for him, a little of the weight that kept weighing on his mind and conscious evaporated away, and he even found himself on the brink of a smile. He put a little effort into encouraging it, and it blossomed full force as Alice glanced in his direction, caught his eye, and flashed a smile of his own. The guilt was still there - as was the paranoia that the karma accountant for the cosmos had made a grievous error - but right now he didn't care.

He set the tray - which the barman had given him without question when he'd asked, presumably because it seemed like the only way to stop the monstrous mutant from mercilessly attacking him - on the table, and distributed the glasses.

"One strawberry martini," he explained as he set the glass in front of Alice, steadfastly refusing to call it a strawtini no matter what the menu said, "And one cloudy lemonade -" His hand delved into his breast pocket, and brandished the contents. "- with straw." There was a pun about straws and strawberries in there somewhere, but as his gaze stumbled onto her eyes once again, he completely forgot how to think.

One stray notion crossed his mind, and his smile faltered; he pulled his eyes away and busied himself with the not all that complicated but he was going to give it his full concentration anyway task of sitting down, making himself comfortable, and finding out whether the long island iced tea was as good as the barman claimed it would be.

By the time his eyes made an attempt to look at Alice again, they only made it as far as Alice's hands, resting on the table; he reached out, resting his atop hers.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, still not quite managing to make eye contact again.

[Alice Kelly]

Awkward would have been the nice term to use for all the sidelong glances they were receiving, yet somehow Alice felt more at ease than she had the previous evening. Maybe it was just the fact she was wearing her own clothing, though Alice had the sneaking suspicion it had more to do with everything her and Tom had talked about. It didn't matter what anyone else thought about her or him, the fact they completely knew just how they felt about each other was something that no amount of glaring could ever touch, never bring down.

Which was why it tugged at her to see Tom forcing smiles and how the touch on her hand was anything but strong. Alice turned her hand over under his, letting her fingers wrap delicately around Tom's. The smallest squeeze of his hand was given in poor substitute for the fact she wanted to throw her arms around him and hold him to her until he was back to his typical confident self.

"Don't be." She tried to force as much reassurance and caring into the two words as possible. "Just think, when we get back home this whole thing will just seem like some sort of strange dream. Only, the good parts weren't just in your head and won't suddenly change."

[Tom Harriman]

Something twinged in Tom's chest; a smile tugged at half of his mouth despite the frown weighing down on his brow.

"Why would I dream about this?" he asked, the faintest ghost of a chuckled sigh creeping out beneath his words. "Nothing I could ever imagine could ever be even half as perfect as sitting here, being here with you, and knowing that when I woke up this morning after falling asleep with you in my arms, you were still there when I opened my eyes. You have no idea how many times I've woken up expecting that only to find out it was all a dream, and -"

He tripped over his words. "Not that I-"

Flood flushed to Tom's face, and he could feel his ears slowly burning as his smile turned distinctly nervous. His hands shifted, gathering hers inside his so his fingers could gently stroke hers, and with all the effort he could muster he forced his gaze to meet with hers again, dove head-first into the eyes he knew he'd drown in.

"I don't want this to seem like it was all just a dream, Alice. You're already a dream come true."

[Alice Kelly]

Alice could feel herself fidget slightly under the barrage of compliments, wondering what would happen first: Would Tom eventually run out of things to say or would she finally get used to hearing them? Watching him become flustered didn't help the situation either and not for the first time since they had left Los Angeles, Alice wished the two of them could simply be home. Romantic meals were nice and all, but all she really wanted was to just curl up on the sofa next to him and playfully argue over who would get control over the remote control.

All she could do in the meantime was let yet another shy smile appear as she glanced away and back up at him, unsure exactly where to finish.

"Then, why don't we just forget everyone else is here? It's just the two of us then, nothing else matters." A small laugh left her, "Well, for the moment at least."

No doubt Kat was wandering around grumbling over having been excluded once more. Alice had tried to explain the whole make up for last night thing and while Kat had seemed to at least accept the concept, she certainly hadn't entirely seemed thrilled over the prospect of being left alone on what was supposed to be a vacation for the three of them. It lingered in the back of Alice's mind like a faucet slowly dripping water into a sink. Maybe she would offer to take Katrina to a Girls-Only Disneyland trip when they got back. Then again, considering what had happened there recently...

Alice pushed the thoughts from her head and let her eyes meet Tom's once more, a small intake of breath was taken as she stumbled over something else to say that could even begin to reflect the things she felt for him. She was sure it didn't need to be said, but it certainly couldn't hurt.

Then, suddenly there was movement behind Tom, a flash of red, a cocky smile, and the unformed words caught in her throat as she looked past him towards the door.

"Oh no..."

[Solomon Latona]

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention please."

The golf club bar and lounge was peppered with ambient noise, background chatter and the clinks of cutlery and glasses, and yet Solomon's voice swept it aside with ease, like fire melting through paper. Conversations curled into crisp and blackened silence, crumbling like ash as everyone's attention was drawn towards him. There was no magic at work here, no hypnotic superpower: just a man speaking loudly with a voice of authority, giving them no choice but to listen.

A small surge of smugness and swagger tugged a smile onto his lips. He held it at bay, barely.

"Please leave your belongings, and make your way in a calm and orderly fashion to the nearest exit -"

He snapped his fingers, and a dancing flame of fire burst into life at his fingertips. Slowly it coiled around his fingers like a serpent, expanding and growing like that game on his cell phone until, a few brief seconds later, it coiled and coalesced into a fist sized ball of flame held casually in the palm of his hand. His gaze settled on Harriman, at the pensive look on the Doctor's face as he twisted in his chair to watch. Solomon allowed his smile to flourish.

"- a fire has been reported in the building."

Without warning Solomon reeled back, wound up his arm and pitched, sending the fireball hurtling across the room.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom reacted on instinct more than anything else. His hand snatched at his drink, and he was only half-way to his feet when he launched it into the air, his powers converting the glass and it's contents into a fast moving projectile that rocketed towards the incoming fire. The two collided above a vacant table; glass shattered and the fire erupted with a hint of alcoholic blue before the combination burned itself into almost nothingness, a few tiny licks of flame clinging to the fragments of glass as they reigned down onto the tablecloth beneath.

Now the crowds didn't know who to look at, but they were still there, curiosity and idiocy preventing them from following Solomon's sage advice.

"This is between you and me, Solomon," Tom replied, frustration snarling away at the back of his accent, scarcely kept at bay.

His senses were acutely aware of his surroundings, of all the innocent bystanders and most importantly of Alice; he took a few steps forward, inserting him between Alice and Solomon's line of fire. He felt his hands curl into fists, felt his muscles tense in readiness, felt the back of his mind curse and lament the absence of the accoutrements he was so used to having with him in fights such as this.

Felt the icy grip of fear around his heart as he recalled what had happened the last time he'd faced off against a pyrokinetic, sense-memories sparking off in his mind. He wrestled them down, snuck a hand into his pocket, dug out a fistful of coins.

He narrowed his eyes at Solomon.

"How about we take this outside?"

[Diana Latona]

"How about... No."

Gone was the lilting charm of amusement that Diana had been throwing around since they'd arrived on the scene. So were the apologetic eyes and sweet behavior that had been donned like some sort of costume for the ordeal. The woman that now came to a stop at Sol's side was nothing short of stoic, a hint of malice edging in on a cold stare that focused directly on Harriman. Diana could really give a shit less about the rest of the people in the room, anyone who had been stupid enough to ignore her brother's warning would just become another casualty of a war they'd been fighting for the last few years. Not a war of their choosing - but then again, when were they?

A small flick of her wrist was the only movement from the right side of her body as the air surrounding Harriman's feet suddenly dropped in temperature. Just like the dirty trick she pulled on Sol, it wasn't so much the air being manipulated but the minute traces of water that lingered, pulled from whatever sources available. The final shift from water to ice was sudden as frost shot up from the ground and wrapped itself around the man's feet, trying its damnedest to gain more substance and stab itself through the fabric of his pants and into his ankles. It wasn't entirely successful, but it would be enough to to keep the bastard from moving quickly.

"See that's the thing, it isn't just between you and Sol here. You fuck with one Latona and you get the entire package deal. Two for the price of one."

Diana's hands raised and another flick, this time from both, brought on another use of her powers. It was something she'd perfected over time and damn had she had a lot of time to do it. The sound of chairs pushing back as the smarter people decided now would be a good time to bail covered the small cracking noises as two shards of ice began to form in her hands, taking on the shape of daggers with a rather threatening sharpened edge to them. Nice little thing she'd learned, keeping the 'blades' frozen even as they sliced through warm flesh. She hadn't needed to use such a thing in a long damn time, but for Harriman, for what he'd done to Sol, for what she hadn't done earlier - It was worth it.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom felt the ice constrict around his feet; that was nothing compared to the weight of realisation settling on his shoulders.

Mutants and siblings were things he understood well: those who fell in the overlap of that Venn diagram weren't just bonded by shared genes and shared parents; they shared oppression, they shared prejudice, and they stood together against a world uncomfortable with their very existence. No matter what frustration Jason or Katrina inspired, he could not imagine a single instance where he would not rush to their aid and stand beside him: they'd stand against the world as siblings, just as Solomon and Diana were trying to do.

That two mutants had gone so long without revealing themselves was no surprise: secrecy was often the only defense a mutant had. But something about it stirred Tom's suspicions. The sheer convenience of Diana stumbling across Alice and Katrina in the spa while at the exact same moment Solomon struck up a conversation with Tom at the bar, a handful of weeks after Tom's research and it's mutant slant had been spread across news networks throughout the State. Serendipity and coincidence were powerful forces, and correlation did not prove causality; but the realm of people was far less adherent to logic and rules than the realm of physics.

Tom could not help feeling tested, twisted, and provoked. Solomon's transformation From casual conversationalist to inconsiderate antagonist was far too profound for alcohol to be the explanation; no amount of alcohol could explain that, particularly not for pyrokinetics, whose very nature usually burned away the negative affects of alcohol unless they practically drowned in it. At least one persona had been faked and staged, and Tom rapidly began to suspect that acting was a family business.

"I get the impression that I'm the one being fucked with."

His eyes narrowed, accusation rumbling beneath his words like a rip-tide beneath waves.

"You know who I am; what I do. You knew before you met me. This is all some elaborate scheme to, what? Antagonise me? Humiliate me? Discredit my work? Give all these innocent bystanders another reason to hate and fear what we are?" His mind raced, conclusions formed and run with before his mind even finished comprehending them. "That's why you waited. That's why you're coming after me now, instead of trying to defend yourself last night."

He strained with his feet, trying and failing to fracture the ice. His eyes turned on Diana. "You could have stopped me. One wave of your hand and last night would never have happened. But no, you needed it to. You needed to let Solomon push me over the edge to test me. Gauge me. Decide if you thought you were enough to take me on. And once you did, you found the best location for your public spectacle: as many witnesses to watch and disapprove as you could possibly get."

"You left Solomon to get hurt without doing a single thing to even try and save him." He let out a grunt of disgust. "Some sister you are."

[Alice Kelly]

Not again. Those were the first words that came to mind and they just continued to repeat themselves as Alice watched the scene unfold before her. Like the ice that apparently had trapped Tom, she found herself likewise frozen, but more out of shock and dismay than any mutant intervention. Her mouth had opened to protest, to find some way to put a stop to it before it escalated but words were lost to the tumble of ideas running through her mind. Alice had read enough news articles and watched enough television to know that not everyone was as well meaning about their abilities as Tom and those he worked with were, it was naive to think that there weren't those out there who were on the other end of the spectrum. If Alice was honest with herself, she felt more disappointed that she hadn't seen it coming, that she had chosen to believe despite everything that the two siblings had been genuinely good people. Their casual disregard for the possibility of harming everyone around them had obliterated any hope of that, though.

Alice slowly pushed herself away from the table and stood up, her eyes constantly moving from Tom to each of the aggressors. "You... You don't have to do this. You can just walk away. It isn't too late."

She wasn't sure why she was trying to reason with any of them, and sadly Alice half wondered if the statement might have been meant for Tom as well since his remarks to Diana certainly didn't seem to have been made with the intent on diffusing the situation. Not that she was certain he was looking to get into a fight, it was more of that awful feeling that he was trying to draw all the attention to himself and ever since the night before Alice had made a silent vow to herself to never let him shoulder his burdens alone if she could help it.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom clenched his teeth together, the muscles bunching in his jaw.

"Yes it is, Alice."

It wasn't anger that spoke, despite the cutting words he'd thrown in Diana's direction. Tom had been in this situation far too many times to think he could simply back away and all would be well. Powers or not, people like these two were all the same: spoiling for a fight, and convinced that they had strength in their superior numbers. It didn't matter if it was a golf club in New Mexico, the streets at night in Los Angeles, or back during his first few weeks of training at Sandhurst; a fight was going to happen, and the only choice Tom had was whether he'd be facing them when it started, or if he'd walk away and give them a free shot at his back.

"But there's still time for you, and everyone else to get safely outside."

Tom looked at her, trying so hard to say with his eyes what he didn't have time to say with his mouth. He wanted her safe; needed her safe. Needed everyone else still standing and gawking to be safe, despite their obvious lack of common sense. Manipulated or not, this was a mess he'd allowed to happen; a trap that he'd blundered into, put himself - put Alice - in danger. Whatever happened in the next ten minutes, he would be the only one he'd allow to be put at risk trying to clean his mess up.

"Please, Alice. Get everyone outside."

[Solomon Latona]

A smirk formed on Solomon's features, but it was malice rather than mirth that glistened in his eyes.

"You heard the man, Alice."

Once again, flames formed at his fingertips, dancing and swirling around his hand as they grew in intensity. This time however they roamed further, the nondescript trail of fire growing larger still, becoming more sharply defined, sprouting wings, evolving a tail, forming angular, serpentine features. It climbed over his shoulders, wrapped itself around his torso, the sound of burning air transformed into a slowly intensifying rumble. His body moved, working it's way through motions that almost seemed like a parody of tai chi: as his arms snapped forward, the dragon of pure fire pounced forth from his arms, and a single word uttered from his lips with almost glee.

"Run."

[Tom Harriman]

Every barrier Tom had ever constructed to keep his anger at bay was smashed in a single blow. Like a broken levee, every dark thought, suppressed feeling, and enraged reflex burst forth like a torrent. Every angry memory from last night and from before, every broken heart, broken promise, snapped nerve, and lost temper flooded into his mind with a deafening roar.

And then, like hope left behind in Pandora's box, a single thought floated through his mind; a glimmer of something good dancing across the blackness of emotions like the Northern Lights across a winter sky. Alice's voice played through his mind, and suddenly the roar turned to silence; rage gave way to serenity.

I love you. And I don't want that to go away.

Tom swept his dark thoughts together; compressed them into the tightest bundle that his mental strength could muster. He gripped it tight and tore it in two, forcing each half through his shoulders, past his elbows, and hurling from his outstretched hands with a shouted exhaled breath.

A blast wave raced charged outwards, spreading out across the cone his hands defined. Tables leapt upwards in it's wake, flipping like dominos into an unfurling barricade that smashed into Solomon's conjured dragon, the avalanche of furniture stampeding on towards the twins.

Tom staggered from exhurtion, his frozen boots the only reason he managed to keep his footing. Even so he mustered a smile, and cast it in Alice's direction. "I got this, princess. Go."

[Diana Latona]

Oh how cute. Diana would have made some sort of sickly comment if she hadn't been so busy seething at Harriman. The temptation was still there to suddenly summon ice shards to impale the blonde as she was making her hasty exit, just to watch Tom's face as Alice died while his attention was elsewhere, but there were other matters to deal with. Like the tables that were hurtling towards them.

She swept a hand in front of her and in its wake a wall of ice formed several feet in front of the Latonas. Tables smashed into the wall sending bits of wood and ice flinging in various directions. With the threat nullified the ice dissipated as quickly as it had formed, melting and returning to water vapour to be called upon when needed once more.

Diana couldn't help but smirk at Harriman and let out a soft series of "tsks" at him as she shook her head. In an unnecessary flourish she twirled one of the frozen daggers in her hand. It wasn't quite time for her to go on the offensive, while the urge to completely rip into Harriman was ever present, there would be time and the satisfaction of demoralizing him for a bit while her brother attacked suited her just fine.

[Solomon Latona]

Solomon felt his knuckles burn as his fists clenched; not just in hotheaded anticipation and delayed rage towards Harriman, but also in anger at himself for the fact that he'd flinched. Of course Diana would have protected him; she'd only done so a few hundred times already. She always did.

Drawing in a slow breath, Solomon reached out with his mind and captured a few flickering flames from the broken table that had thwarted his artfully executed pyrokinetic attack; as the breath was released the flame spread in both directions, sprinting across shrapnel, carpet, and everything else flammable at his behest, a circular arena defined by fire springing up around the twins and their prey. They'd done their homework - or rather someone had done their homework for them - and Solomon knew that Harriman's fighting style relied on range and on deflection. The less space he had to work with, the more limited he was.

Solomon's fists clenched tighter still until his self control couldn't overcome his impulses. Flames erupted from his fingers and wreathed his hands, flames licking harmlessly up his arms like the tails of comets. Another breath was drawn, released as a roar that turned the flickering circle of flames into an inferno. Hesitation cast aside, Solomon charged.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom was ready, though he didn't look it. His muscles tensed, coiled and ready to evade whatever the pyrokinetic threw at him; surprise gripped him when Solomon chose to throw himself. Summoning all his might, and thrusting the ground away for extra traction, he ripped himself free of the ice, diving to the side. He didn't waste his momentum though, or sacrifice it to the floor; instead he twisted himself into a sweeping kick, a boot sweeping Solomon's legs out from beneath him and sending him into a headlong dive.

Resisting the urge to unleash the vocalisations that went along with a hadouken, Tom summoned another tidal wave of rage, skin screaming with remembered pain as he recalled his last encounter with a pyrokinetic. Solomon hadn't been the man responsible that time, but it didn't matter; his powers flared, and he transferred it all to Solomon with the largest shove his muscles could muster. You'll believe a man can fly floated through his mind, watching his attacker trace a parabola as he sailed clean across the room.

Rising slowly to his feet, he watched as Solomon's sister waited, patient like a glacier compared to her hot-headed brother. "Clearly he's not the brains of the operation," he taunted, jerking a head in the direction that Solomon had flown. "But the question is: are you, or did someone else put you up to this?"

[Diana Latona]

A call for Sol to wait lingered on the tip of her tongue and went unsaid, Diana knew far better than to even remotely attempt to give any sort of direction to her brother. They worked best that way, letting the other do what they needed to, even if sometimes it didn't work out for the best. The sudden flare of heat in the room and the lack a solid source for her powers made it impossible for her to create any sort of cushion for him and she felt a cringe flash across her features as Sol smashed into a table on the other side of the room.

The wince turned into a look of pure and yet somehow controlled wraith as she snapped her attention back to Harriman who had the gall to speak in the moment. His question was only answered with narrowed eyes and a small smirk, cruel and knowing. It didn't matter why they were there anymore. This marked time number two that she'd watched this man hurt her brother. There wouldn't be a third time...

Her steps were slow, confident instead of cautious as she stalked towards her prey as if daring him to try and push her away. "You, really shouldn'ta done that."

The slightest tilt of her head was the only warning before a breath was drawn in and once more her powers reached out around them. The blaze made it more difficult than it normally would have been, but Diana had long learned how to compensate for anything her brother would toss into the equation. After all, ice wasn't the only form water could take, and the small sheen of sweat that had been starting to form on Harriman in response to the inferno around them offered her the perfect example. Water could burn just as well as fire. It was something Tom would quickly find out as the small amounts of beaded moisture on his skin was suddenly superheated. It wasn't intended as a main assault, but it would hopefully distract enough so that she could get close enough to really start digging in. It was frustrating to know that projectiles wouldn't work but oh the things she could do when properly motivated... Diana couldn't help that Tom was going to force her into using the more cruel aspects of her abilities, the fact she was looking forward to it was probably unhealthy though.

[Tom Harriman]

Tom's skin was on fire: and history considered, that wasn't a metaphor he used lightly. His brow, his collar, everywhere shielded enough from the surrounding inferno to collect moisture without it being instantly seared away by the glaze. He grimaced hard, hoping that by some focus of intense emotion could numb out the pain; it didn't. Sense memory brought the scent of his burning flesh to the back of his throat all over again; felt his stomach twist with pain and nausea at everything he recalled.

He lashed out, more on instinct than anything, hurling his pocketful of loose change towards Diana. His powers turned their trajectories ballistic, a hail of cents and dimes and quarters hurtling towards the hydrokinetic like a swarm of shuriken. She dodged, with the kind of skill and agility that made Tom's heart sink at the rapidly decreasing odds of him gaining the upper hand in this fight; but thankfully not quite enough to avoid a few bullet-force impacts and grazes from the hail of coins; enough to fracture Diana's concentration and allow Tom a brief few seconds of relief.

Tom didn't squander his advantage; throwing himself forward he thrust the floor away, flinging as much impulse as he could muster to knock Diana off balance, shoving her into an ungraceful tumble towards the ground. Tom kicked and shoved his way off one of the pillars holding up the golf club's ceiling, flinging him to a new part of the all-too-small arena, wanting every instant of advantage over Diana that he could muster. He landed with cat-like grace and scanned his surroundings for weapons; a handful of cutlery scattered by his domino tables was grabbed into a fist; he pressed himself behind cover, and contemplated his next move.

A distant sound assaulted his senses; a ringing that after a split second came closer and closer. His eyes turned towards the ceiling as has he recognised the fire alarm, and understood what it meant. A moment later, the sprinklers burst into life, and the restaurant filled with rain.

Oh, Tom mused quietly to himself, dread forming in his stomach. Oh shit.

[Diana Latona]

The sudden downpour from the sprinklers parted around her as she slowly turned to look at the seeping red stain that was soaking into the torn sleeve of her shirt. It was just a graze, nothing major, but the flare of pain was enough to shove her ever closer to an edge she had been teetering on. The strange combination of fire, water, and sirens did nothing to really help the situation, it echoed a faint memory far too much for her liking. A sudden glance to her side that was met by empty air rather than the familiar smug grin of her counterpart was the final nudge as she was forced to be reminded that no, Sol wasn't where he was supposed to be because this guy had removed him from the equation.

Water that fell near her began to freeze, frost forming outwards around the woman as she stared down the area she could only guess that Harriman was behind. There wasn't much in the way of cover, after all. The back of her mind warned against hurling anything that could be redirected at the man but that was the thing, her powers didn't just give momentum to something and hope it landed where it was intended, no... Diana was nothing if not in complete control. A slow smile spread across her lips as the sprinklers were focused upon organizing a two fold attack. The groundwork had already been laid within several seconds of the torrent they brought. A small gesture of her hand accompanied several large icy spikes to suddenly rise up and through the tables that Tom had ducked behind, shattering them in an instant. The process was repeated, this time where the man stood and in that same moment each droplet she could focus upon around him suddenly hardened and shot towards him.

Diana had seen what Tom could do to a single man, but several hundred pinpricks that were willed to tear through him? Even if he was strong enough to push away that which she forced towards him, would he manage to get them all? Would he notice that at the same moment she was already planning her next move? Oh boy... was it a doozy. Problem was she wanted him to not notice the fact that the water raining down on him wasn't the only thing that was bringing a chill to his skin, that adrenaline wasn't the only reason his heart was suddenly beating harder than it had been. Oh Thomas... you really chose to take out the wrong twin in this fight.