Josh felt relieved when she finally took him at his word, grabbing his hand and leading him away into the hall. They turned and Alera led them to a back exit, the door opening and the Insurgent's face staring at them, the barrel of his gun pointed directly at her. Josh's quick eye spotted the recognition in his fellow Insurgent's face, followed by a look of shock before his skull was blown to bits by Cardigan's bullet.

He couldn't imagine what his first thought had been upon seeing Josh with two Imperials, including the Imperial leader. He probably thought he was a traitor (which he kind of was) or that he was on a mission. Poor guy would never know. Although he wasn't completly loyal to the Insurgents, he still felt a slight remorse whenever he saw one killed. Simply because he'd worked so closely with these men, and even formed some light friendships.

Cardigan's voice ordered them to move, and his instinct was to turn and punch him out cold, because Josh took orders from Sanchez, not Cardigan. But he knew that was the worst decision he could make in this situation, so he clenched his jaws and moved. Josh hadn't even noticed the blood beginning to trickle down her thigh, not until they were both in her car.

He kept his gun at the ready, his eyes darting out the window for anyone following as they sped out of the lot. When the Insurgents trailing them could keep up no longer, Josh turned to see the blood that was now pooling in the seat and seeping through her dress.

Without anything else at the ready, he immediately began untying his tie, throwing it the back and unbottoning his shirt. He pulled it off with urgency, the sudden chill of the air hitting his skin causing goosebumps to form along his arms and back. He pressed the shirt against the wound, trying to apply as much pressure as possible to stop the bleeding.

He couldn't tie a turnicut while she was driving, but he was desperately wishing he could. It wasn't too long before his white and blue plaid shirt was stained mostly a dark red, his fingers beginning to become the color of her blood.

She pulled over into a gas station parking lot, and parked the car. She leaned over his arms as he continued to hold down his shirt on the wound, rummaging in her car. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and took a swig, soon asking him if he can look in her trunk or in the store for a first aide kit.

"Yeah, here," he said, his words slipping out as soon as she was done speaking. "Keep holding this on here, keep applying pressure." He hadn't obeyed her order to buckle when they first started driving, and so no time was spent unbuckling as he pushed open the door and slammed it shut behind him, the sound echoing in the parking lot. The gas station was far from empty, but it wasn't filled with a bunch of people either.

He went around and pulled her trunk open, searching for a first aide kit. To his relief he found one, only to open it and discover there wasn't much left for use inside. "Fuck," he cursed, closing it and shutting the trunk. He paced in one quick circle, running his bloody fingers through his hair before casting a look towards the doors of the store.

He walked up and opened the passenger side door, leaning down to talk to her. He noticed the sparkling of tears forming at her eyes. "Listen Alera, the aide in the back doesn't have much left in it, I gotta go inside." He looked over his shoulder, the streetlights shining against the dark sky and reflecting in his eyes. He looked back at her, glancing down at his now soaking shirt. "Just keep holding that there, okay?" He crawled halfway in the car, taking the back of her head gently in his hand and pulling her forward a little to plant a gentle and reassuring kiss on her forehead before crawling back out and shutting the door.

He jogged up to the front doors of the station, his eyes landing on a sign that read,

No Shirt, No Pants, No Shoes, NO SERVICE.

He scoffed, shaking his head. Oh well. He didn't have any other shirts to put on, and the one he did have was now soaked with dark crimson blood. He pushed the door open anyway, walking briskly in, and a bell dinging to announce his presence. He turned down every isle, most of the employees gone since it was the night shift.

His eyes scanned over everything, finally landing on first aide kits, band-aides, and so on so forth in the back near the coolers of drinks. He rushed there, pulling two kits off and grabbing extra wraps and bandages. He also grabbed a few medical cleaning supplies as well as cotton balls and made his way to the front counter, everything on the verge of toppling out of his arms.

He laid everything down on the counter, and the man behind the register looked at him with wide eyes.

"Um sir, I-" he started, motioning towards the sign.

"I don't give a shit." Josh answered, pushing the supplies towards him. "I need this stuff and I need it now." The cashier looked young, eighteen years old at the most, and his hands were trembling slightly. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

The cashier glanced down and saw Josh's hands stained with drying blood and immediately complyed, checking out everything as quickly as he could with no questions asked. Josh kept frantically glancing out the glass windows on the doors to try and see Alera. Once everything was checked out he pulled out a hundred dollar bill and gave it to the cashier. Once he had his change and everything bagged up he thanked the man and left with no glance back.

Once he reached the car he walked around to the driver's side, opening the door and kneeling down to be below eye level with Alera so he could see what he was doing. He pulled out one of the kits and took out some antibacterial wipes, handing them to her.

"Here, take these and give me the shirt." he said, exchanging the wipes for his bloody shirt. He tossed it onto the pavement. "We're going to have to get this cleaned up and get a makeshift turnicut on you because the guy inside knows something's up. I don't want the cops showing up." he informed her. He reached up to help wipe the blood away. Although adrenaline was rushing through his veins, his touch was still gentle.

Josh felt his stubborn side rise up as she instisted they wait and do this someplace else. While he did agree it would be easier to do elsewhere, she was bleeding a lot and that needed to be slowed before he was comfortable with leaving. He felt a small tingle in his spine as she mentioned the shower, and he tried to ignore the fact that she looked down at him, as if she was hinting at something else. In this time of desperation? He couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth turn into a small disbelieving grin, shaking his head and letting out a quiet chuckle.

"As alluring as you make that sound, I'm not leaving this place until we get this a little more cleaned and at the very least tied off," he told her calmly, casting her a glance that read he wasn't joking and he wasn't afraid to force her if need be. "You're bleeding a lot more than I thought at first. I'm no doctor but I'm smart enough to know that's not good."

He nodded as she said he they could wrap it first, joking about her dress. He gave her a grin, his eyes lighting up yet again with a sort of playful disbelief. How she still found the time to joke he didn't know. Maybe it was to help keep her mind off of things. He cleaned up the blood as quickly as he could without hurting her, and began to gently wrap it, his knuckles lightly brushing against her inner thigh as he did so.

He was trying to hurry, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. "Staying a night or two in a hotel is probably the best option we have," he commented from her statement earlier. "I have a safe house, but it's in another state for extra safety reasons. The one I had around here was discovered and raided." He finished wrapping her leg and pushed himself to his feet, gathering the supplies. "We'll have to stop somewhere so I can buy some extra clothes for us both, and any other things we may need." He opened the back door and slid the kits onto the floor and everything else onto the seat instead of wasting energy to walk back around to the trunk.

He climbed into the passenger seat, closing the door and pulling the seatbelt across him. "If you need me to drive at some point let me know." he offered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two of them drove for a couple more hours, because Josh wanted to get to a hotel far enough away from the city that they wouldn't be able to be tracked as quickly. He often peered to see if the wrap needed changed and frequently asked her if she needed anything to help with the pain.

Somewhere along the way they stopped at a thrift store in the middle of pretty much nowhere on the far outskirts of the city. He told her he'd be back and went inside, the sun just a couple hours from rising. Of course the store was closed and wouldn't be open until the later hours of the morning, but after a few minutes of inspecting, Josh came to understand that there were no means of real security. There were no cameras that he could see, and the store itself was quite old fashioned looking and quaint, not a big thrift store with the newer equipment and newer doors.

He bit his lower lip in consideration, very tempted. He knew exactly how to do this, for he'd been robbing places and people for the Insurgents for years, and even stealing things from stores before he was kidnapped by the Imperials. After some more consideration, he turned and grabbed a stick off of the ground, snapping it into tinier pieces.

A paper clip or some other object would have sufficed, but he wasn't looking to walk back to the car and get a possible disapproving look from Alera. It took him merely a second to pick the lock, an expert at the job, and once inside he avoided turning on any lights, including his phone.

The light from the full moon shone through the windows, and after his eyes adjusted that was enough. He walked up and down each of the small isles, pulling clothes off of the racks that he knew would fit him and grabbing some he guessed would fit her fine. He grabbed mostly T-shirts, sweatpants, and shorts to avoid any big size problems that often came with jeans or really....any sort of women's clothes.

He browsed on silent feet, grateful to the gods above that this was a rinky dink place that didn't invest in security other than a locked door. He grabbed a couple pairs of tennis shoes as well and exited the small building. He walked back to the car, opening the back door and tossing the clothes back there. He pulled one of the T-shirts out, a solid black V-neck, and pulled it over his head, the soft fabric gliding smoothly over his skin.

"Sorry, nothing fancy." he told her nodding at the small pile of clothes in the back. "It'll have to do for now."

Alera
•

Alera watched as a smile tugged at his lips and she grinned, raising an eye brow.

"As alluring as you make that sound, I'm not leaving this place until we get this a little more cleaned and at the very least tied off, You're bleeding a lot more than I thought at first."

At that, a small smile tugged at her lips as she winked, despite her better judgment that appeared to have left her the second Josh came into her proximity.

"What a shame."

She teased and couldn't hold back the small laugh that followed.

"Staying a night or two in a hotel is probably the best option we have,"

Alera nodded in agreement.

"The closest hotel has got to be at least two hours from here, but we'll make it work."

Josh tended to the open wound and she fought the urge to pull away, as she bit the inside of her lip to keep from begging him to stop or complaining about the sting, the painkillers clearly hadn't kicked in yet. She was startled when her phone began to ring and leaned over from where she was sitting to pick it up. Cardigan. Alera hesitated, considering her options before deciding upon shutting it off completely and tossing it into the backseat. She casted a nervous glance back before looking down at Josh with confliction. She could have picked up the phone and played along but she wasn't sure she had it in her honesty and in the moment it seemed so much easier to just ignore the argument awaiting her on the other line.

"He's probably looking for me, i was supposed to meet up with after the..incident. we should probably head out incase he sends anyone out to report back with our location, and once we get on the road it's probably a good idea to ditch the phones."

As much as she'd jumped at the opportunity to leave this life behind and take off with Josh, it felt, wrong.

She'd never gotten much chance to be herself within the imperials, she was always trying to impress someone or putting on a show in order to manipulate someone. With Josh, she had no script to follow, no..persona to display, except her own and In a sense it was refreshing. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he was really here, and that there was a serious possibility she might be in love with him.

•

They'd been on the road for a few hours and thankful the painkillers had kicked in shortly after they left the gas station. The drive had been pretty smooth so far and she'd been at least fifteen over the speed limit without running into any cops for the last hour. She was almost surprised at the lack of drivers on the highway, it was usually packed so she found this to be fairly unusual. But at the same time it spared her the hassle of getting stuck in traffic and continuing to bleed out on in her car.. She applied light pressure to the bullet wound and thankfully the bleeding had slowed drastically and the pain was a lot more bearable after taking medication. Now, Alera sat in the drivers seat and watched as Josh scoped out the small thrift store that hadn't even opened yet.

What the hell was he doing?

It really should have dawned on her sooner, she knew exactly what he was doing. From where she was seated it was hard to tell what kind of security precautions they had set or installed, but considering it was a tiny thrift store in the middle of nowhere she really wasn't overly concerned about it.

It took a matter of seconds and Josh was inside, she followed his movements through the shop window as he pulled a few stacks of clothing off of the racks exited the building. She raised an eyebrow as he approached and tossed the stolen items into the back of the car. He rounded the front of the car and climbed back into the passenger seat.

"Sorry, nothing fancy."

She wasn't exactly expecting fancy from a thrift store, nor did she really mind either way.

"It's alright, let's just get outta here."

It only took another forty minutes of driving before they arrived at the hotel Josh had been referring too and her jaw nearly hit the floor as she pulled into the parking lot, scanning over the building in disbelief.

"Remind me how we're paying for this?

I don't have any cash on me, it's all back at my apartment and in my bank account, which is through the imperials, we should probably stop at a bank and withdraw that before Cardigan catches onto us and shuts it down."

She added, eyes having not left the massive hotel.

Josh hadn't stopped working when her phone rang, but he did look up with a concerned look on his face. Alera was right. Both Cardigan and Sanchez would be on their tails soon, and phones were a dead giveaway of their location and easy to track.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After throwing the stolen clothes into the back seat and putting on one of the shirts, he pulled his phone from his pocket and tossed it on the ground, raising a foot and stomping down on it as hard as he could, shattering the screen and breaking the phone to a point of no repairing. The act prevented anyone finding it and digging through it, revealing all of the hidden information stashed on it.

As they pulled into the lot of the hotel, Alera seemed completely baffled, asking him how they were planning on paying for it. He flashed her a smile, pulling out his card. "It's on me." he answered simply. She said that they should probably stop at a bank somewhere so she could withdraw whatever she had stashed through the Imperials, and he nodded. "I have a few million stacked up in my own account that I'll have to withdraw." he replied casually.

Once they were pulled up and parked where they needed to be, he gathered the clothes and stuffed them inside a bag he found in her trunk. "Let's go inside, get checked in, and get some rest. First thing in the morning we'll head out to the bank and withdraw the money." They couldn't go now because all banks were closed, and it wasn't exactly safe to be drawing thousands and millions of dollars from an ATM.

They had a few hours until the sun would rise, and they both needed to get cleaned up and get some sleep. He helped her out of the car and held the bag of clothes in one hand while keeping his other arm around her to help steady her. "My name on this card is a fake one, an ID I used as a spy for the Insurgents. So whatever they say my name is go along with it." he informed her quietly as they walked up to the massive building. "Make sure they don't look at your hand too closely. I'm going to put us down as husband and wife." He knew they would have to pose as something wherever they went, use fake names and fake ID's until they were far away from where the Imperials or Insurgents could track them.

They stepped into the hotel, the lobby area large and quite beautiful, even though the majority of the major lights were powered off. There was a man sitting behind the desk with a few small lights on around that area. Josh approached him with Alera by his side. The man looked up from his reading, his eyes widening slightly. It was then that Josh came to realize he hadn't taken the time to thoroughly clean Alera's blood off of his hands. It wasn't exactly noticeable at first, because it was dry and some of it had washed off from the antibacterial wipes he'd used to clean the wound.

"Hello," Josh spoke to the man. "We need a place to stay for a couple of nights." The man looked slightly suspicious, but stood up regardless. "We're passing through, been driving all night and need some rest." The man's face relaxed, but he still held a weary gaze.

"Two nights?" he asked Josh, typing into the computer.

"Yes Sir," he answered, swallowing. His demeanor was calm and collected, and although his words sounded suspicious, the way he said them and the way he acted made it seem completely normal.

"$1,400 is that total." The man said, looking up at Josh. Josh nodded, handing him his card. The man took it, running it through. "Mr. Lucas Chapman?"

"Yes Sir,"

"Alright, here you are." He handed his card back, and opened a drawer in the desk, pulling out two sets of key cards. "Room 450 is all yours. Floor 13." Josh thanked the man and led Alera to the nearest elevator, helping her inside. He pushed the button that would take them to the 13th floor.

"I get the feeling staff's eyes will be on us while we're here." he told Alera quietly. "No one checks into a hotel at 4 in the morning." The elevator dinged softly and the doors slid open. Josh led her down the long hallway, scanning the numbers above each door. The hotel was massive, with 18 floors and looking very similar to the Statler hotel in Chicago. Although the Statler was an infamously haunted hotel that looked mind bendingly creepy, this one was beautiful and impressive inside and out.

Finally, he reached room 450, taking his key card and opening the door for her. Once they were both inside he shut and locked the door, tossing the bag of clothes on the floor by the bed and flopping down on it backwards. His entire body felt like it was filled with extra weights, and for the first time all day he felt as if he couldn't move.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of boots clicking softly on concrete could be heard in the darkness, fast paced yet steady. A walk built for a purpose. The sound came to an abrupt stop as the woman halted before a large door. She stood no taller than 5 foot 6, her body curvy but built with muscle. Her hair was a shining black, pulled into a braid that fell past her shoulders. Her features were pointed but pretty, her eyes and expression set with a stern glare that hardly ever changed. Her body was wrapped in black leather clothing, two guns strapped to her hips and a belt around her waist that held a numerous number of blades.

She stood outside of the Imperial facility, a bold and dangerous thing to do considering she was the leader of the Insurgents. She spoke, her voice laced with a thick Spanish accent.

"Karie Sanchez. I request an audience with Cardigan Foster."

Josh closed his eyes, moving his arm up to rest on his forehead, his chest rising and falling peacefully with each breath. He heard Alera putting her things down, and she soon spoke, telling him that she was going to run a bath. He simply nodded, letting out a sound of agreement without moving his arm.

She told him she'd be leaving the door unlocked, and that caused him to move his arm slightly and open his eyes to see her standing in the doorway. He cast her a grin right back, and chuckled, moving his arm back and closing his eyes once more as she shut the bathroom door. He heard the water turn on for the shower, and he could only assume she was rinsing off the wound before stepping in a bath.

After several long minutes he forced himself to sit up, quietly groaning as he did so. Now that he was relaxed, his entire body was aching from all the tension of before. He ran his hands through his hair and sat on the edge of the bed for several long moments, before casting his sea-green gaze over to the bag of clothes on the floor. He stood up and opened it now that he had a proper light source, looking through what he had stolen. There were about four pairs of clothes in there for each of them, so eight pairs in all.

He sighed, air rushing heavily out of his nostrils. He pulled out his wallet, his eyes scanning over his fake ID. His brows furrowed as he noticed something poking out from one of the small pockets. He pulled out the small piece of paper, and with a small grin came to realize it was all the information he'd had stacked up on Alera for his mission before he knew it was for sure her that he was sent to kill. It was in this moment that he noticed the dried blood on his hands from earlier.

He crumpled the paper up and tossed it in the trash can, looking towards the closed bathroom door. The shower had shut off long ago, and the sound of the tub filling up had ended as well. He swallowed, debating on what to do. He didn't want to be impolite, but...she had purposefully mentioned that she would be leaving it unlocked.

Finally, he decided he was going. He walked slowly up to the door, rapping on it lightly with his knuckles before saying, "Alera I'm going to come in and rinse off my hands if that's okay?" He paused to wait for a reply. He pushed the door slowly open and carefully walked inside, shutting it softly behind him with a gentle click. He forced himself to keep his gaze away from her as he walked towards the sink.

"I'd forgotten your blood was still on my hands. Quite literally," he said, chuckling. He turned on the sink and ran the warm water over his hands, the soap cleansing them right off. The clear water in the basin had swirls of dark red circling through it for a few moments before it disappeared down the drain. He shut the water off, wiping his hands on the towel to dry them off.

He paused, still standing at the sink. He looked up into the mirror, examining his features for a brief moment, noticing that he needed to shave again as his whiskers were starting to get a little long. His eyes caught the sight of Alera in the tub within the reflection, but he could only see her shoulders and head, along with part of her upper chest.

Still, it was enough for him to feel as if he should look away, temptation flickering in the back of his mind. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, dropping his hands to the edge of the sink. "There's a lot we need to discuss, Alera." he finally said quietly, dropping his gaze away from the mirror, his back still facing her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karie stood by herself with a no nonsense look on her face as the two Imperials approached her. The first fumbled over his words like a man who'd lost the ability to speak, whilst the other's tongue was laced with an arrogance she would not hesitate to exterminate.

She smirked at him as he gave her instructions, pausing midway through the door. She glanced at the box and looked back at him, her nearly black eyes bottomless pits, void of emotion other than stone cold hate. "I won't be removing my belt, Sir." she spoke, her words rolling off her tongue cold as ice. "And if anyone dares try to remove it for me they'll find themselves lying dead on the concrete or wishing they were dead as they slowly bleed out." She paused again, looking both the men over, extreme intellect behind her gaze.

"Thank you for your instructions, Emmet." she said, an eerie smile spreading across her lips. "Thank you both for your cooperation." She was sure it would shock at least one of them that she knew his name, for neither had introduced themselves. But she had eyes on many of the Imperials thanks to Josh Wright's work as a spy, and his missions were always thorough. He left no stone unturned, no detail forgotten. He was one of the best at his job, and...one of the best pleasers she'd ever found herself with.

Of course one night couldn't be called something, and she hated the fact that she'd fallen for his charm. But she regretted none of their actions that night. Of course she never went back, neither of them had. It was a night of satisfaction but nothing more, unless she could count that it made him easier to control on the field.

Her dark gaze moved to the seemingly more polite man as he told her kindly to disarm herself once more. He flashed her a polite grin but she only tilted her head in response, well aware that she would not comply with their orders, and if anyone tried to stop her she had multiple inside men who would do anything at her command in a matter of seconds.

She stalked past the box Emmet had gestured to, following his instructions as she made her way up the stairs. She stepped onto the second floor, and sure enough there were men there to security check her. She wasn't planning on killing while here, but if they forced her to take her means of protection off she would not hesitate to eliminate the men in her way.

With a tongue like silver she immediately spoke to them, raising a hand before any could speak. "I mean to have a peaceful conversation with Cardigan. If I made it past the first floor with this belt on you best be sure I'm allowed to keep it." She gave them a rare smile, pleasent yet laced with poison. "Make any moves and intentions of peace will be lost as you lay on the floor wishing I'd given you mercy."

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and to her joy she recognized one of her inside men already on the second floor, approaching the guards from behind. He was dressed like them, and walked confidently as if he belonged there. Another of her spies made her way up the stairs, her red hair pulled into a bun and a gun on her hip, walking just as confidently. Two well trained Insurgents and their leader all together inside on the same floor didn't bode well for any of the guards. Not that they weren't talented or highly trained professionals either, but simply that if either of the Insurgents or Imperials made any move to destroy the other it would mean an all out war.

"I come in peace," Sanchez said, still with a friendly smile. "And I'm sure you'd like to keep it that way."

A short while later she was past the guards, her belt still strapped around her waist. Even if she had been forced to give it up, she had other means of weaponry hidden. She wasn't an idiot. She came well prepared, knowing full well she was walking into enemy territory. Of course she'd come with a backup plan in case things turned dicey.

She came to room 14, stopped outside the door and debated. The two Insurgents had followed her up to the third floor and were now standing behind her. "Stay out here. If you hear anything out of the ordinary you come in." she ordered them. Instead of knocking or ringing any bell, she pushed open the doors and walked confidently in, her dark eyes landing on Cardigan.

"Well, well," she crooned, seeing him in his big leather chair. "Aren't we living high and large?" She stood straight with her chin lifted and her hands at her sides, her muscles tense and ready to grab a weapon if he made any sudden moves that proved a threat. "I need to speak to you. About your pet, Miss Kurtz. My assassin has gone missing, and he's disappeared with her. I've come on peaceful terms to negotiate. But anything goes bad and I will not hesitate to break my vow of peace."

She apologized about the shirt, offering to buy him a new one, and he shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Oh it's alright, Alera." he said, chuckling. "It's just a shirt." The blood on his hands rinsed down the blood with ease, and the heaviness and danger of the situation slowly was setting in now that they both were in a safer and quieter place.

She began speaking right away, informing him about a woman she knew who could provide them with a safe place. Although the situation was important and something they really needed to focus on, that wasn't entirely what he had meant, for something else was on his mind. He turned to look at her, his hands dropping slowly off of the sink and to his sides.

"It sounds like a smart move to make." he agreed, running a hand through his hair. "But I think we both know there's...something else we need to be discussing as well. He walked slowly over to the side of the tub and sank down to the floor, keeping one leg extended flat on the floor while he pulled his other knee casually up. He rested one arm on his knee, and the other on the side of the tub.

His gaze dropped to the floor for a moment as he thought, and his fingers brushed the layer of bubbles across the water. "I thought...I thought you were dead." he said quietly, lifting his gaze to meet hers once more. "That or...that or I thought you had completely forgotten about me." He swallowed, trying to keep his eyes either on her face or on the floor. There couldn't be an inbetween unless she gave him permission. It made the temptation no less strong, but he was trying his best to be polite.

As a mature man who'd been exposed to more than a couple of undressed women, the base image was already there, but the curiousity of what was different nagged at the corners of his mind. Everyone was different in some way, and while he felt guilty thinking about what all he had done, it was still a pleasure each time. At least...in the moment. He didn't know what all she'd done either, but he did know that both of their plates were unclean.

That much had been revealed back at her apartment, when a previous fling decided to wreck the place. A fellow Insurgent. If she had slept around with Insurgents, there had to be countless others within her own organization too. He hated that part of him was even a little intrigued by that as well, because he couldn't help thinking,

She's experienced.

Both of them had grown up tremednously in the years they had been separated, for the last time they had been face to face he had been fourteen or so. She was a grown woman now, and he a grown man. The corners of his mouth turned up into a sort of half smile.

"I don't know about you but I tried getting in a serious relationship with someone shortly after getting tossed and...it didn't work out so well." he chuckled, remembering how desperate he had been. The girl of course had been older than him. She had been eighteen at the time and he fifteen. Of course she'd been using him for a certain few duties and then left him in the dust as soon as he'd mentioned the idea of a real relationship.

Part of him had been trying to refill the part of his heart that was left empty when he was pushed from the Imperials. He'd tried for a few months to somehow sneak back in and see Alera but it never came to be. The Imperials had been expecting that, and even at the time he had been doing exceedingly well at training, and thus the guards were prepared and on the lookout for him.

He was never able to get back in, and it had pained him that he never got to tell her goodbye or what had happened. Now, nearly six years later here they both were, sitting in the same room together, running from the organizations that had taken them from their homes after killing their innocent family members. It was a bit of a crazy story, really. But Josh remembered it vividly.

He remembered sitting in the apartment building lobby with his mother, and he at the time had been only eleven. They were waiting for his father to come down so they could leave and start heading to the airport for a vacation trip. It had all been a normal evening. That is, up until the bomb went off. The explosion made the building collapse, and only a lucky few managed to survive.

The entire square of apartments had apparantly been a target, and Josh later learned from his kidnappers that "the place needed clearing." Apparantly several high class Insurgents had been living in multiple of the buildings, and their answer had been to bomb them.

"I guess no one ever really filled that void like you did." He gave her a small smile, his eyes casting down into the suds. He ran his hand through the water again, bubbles wrapping around his fingers. "But I'm not sure...I'm not sure how to pursue this." He felt his heart skip a beat as nervousness of the unknown loomed before him. "I still love you," he admitted quietly. "I always have, it's never gone away, but...but I don't know what to do now. I feel like we should give it time but I'm not patient." he chuckled a little. "I want to know what you think. Is it unreasonable for me to...to want this like I am?"

(I'll have Sanchez respond to Cardigan in the next post, I kind of want to move Alera and Josh along a little more)