"Geppetto," Orion began as he saw the old man, his once dark hair silvered in age and stress, a tinge of panic in his voice as he began to speak before a rueful laugh silenced him. The old man's eyes never left the board as he straightened, his fingers delicately running along each faded maroon line, tracing each intersection with practiced care.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna just go and murder you kid, wouldn't look too good for me if you were to up and disappear. What I am gonna do though, is fix that leg of yours. Then you and I are gonna have a nice little chat about where the hell you've been for the last couple years." His voice was calm, matter of factly even. He turned away from the wall, looking at the disgraced racer before he sighed. "You had everything Orion. Everything. And you threw it away because you lost one race. You're lucky I don't take a needle to you and make the stitches deep so I know they won't come out." a momentary flame of anger flashed behind those emeralds he called eyes. Then it disappeared.

Orion looked away, his eyes straying to a picture on the bedside table, one of his old team, covered in dust. His words caught in his throat as he sat there, leg bared and covered with blood, now a coagulated and dried mess around the slice. Gepetto walked over and sighed as he looked at it, flipping on the nearby desk light to get a better look. He sucked his teeth in annoyance as he walked around the bed, practically dragging angel as he walked by and to the door, his posture seeming to age over the seconds, his energy draining. "I'm getting too old to keep dealing with this shit. One of these days, i swear I'm gonna tell some idiot they're fine and watch as they fall flat on their face because they couldn't keep their damn mouth shut and their head down. Angel, i swear, if you ever come to me like he is, im gonna beat you senseless." the old man rambled on about the past and how racers held themselves with a higher regard to their safety and how it seems the new generation is just trying to throw their lives away, with angel interjecting in rare moments, trying her best to defend Orion, and failing horribly. "Angel, enough." the two spoke in near unison before freezing and looking at each other, obvious distaste in his features as he shoved angel out of the room, glowering back at the poor poker face Orion was holding, a small, sheepish grin on his lips.

"I really don't like what you did to my little girl," Gepetto began as he snapped the surgical gloves onto his hands with practiced ease, "she had a future, and then she just had to meet the one guy she would never get over, turn into a grease monkey. Despite your interference though, she seemed to have started to forget about you, moving on… then she found that damned bike of yours." it was clear he was venting as he pulled a rolling stool over and set a few needles and surgical thread aside, threading the first of four with ease despite his age. He stuck the needle in it deep, hooking it upward and pulling, the laceration pressing closed with ease. Orion gripped the railing of the bed, his knuckles white and his hands shaking as he went rigid from the sudden sharpness. " Once she saw that bike in pieces, it was like that first night all over again. She wouldn't shut up about you, she became fixated. Then she found your Cds, then your jersey… then she found zero and calypso. Did you know she's been taking care of that cat since you just up and left? You don't know how lucky you are, or how infuriated i am." Gepetto stopped, shaking as he hung his head, holding his arm still and waiting for his anger to pass. "You don't know what she's had to do, the nights she spent, just looking for you. I've left her shop and she was just getting on the computer, at midnight. I'd come in the morning, at eight Orion, EIGHT! She was still at the computer, passed out in your jersey, pages upon pages of threads, articles, theories, on where you were, had been, and where you were going. And you couldn't even send her a message telling her you're okay. You don't know the pain a father feels when he's watching his daughter, his only fucking daughter, tear herself apart, trying to find her one guy. The one guy no matter how much I objected, she still searched, still went out with…" he took a deep breath before starting again, more gingerly this time around. "What did you do to my baby girl Orion? Why did you do this to her?"

Orion sat there in silent astonishment, his jaw slack as he watched and listened to this man pour his heart out to the one man on the planet he blatantly told he hated. "Gepp, i didn't mean to do any of this. I didn't want to hurt anyone, or leave. I never meant to be gone for so long….never wanted to put that much pressure on her."

"Yeah, well, you did kid. She has wasted so long on you that there's no going back for her. So, please, explain to me how you're going to fix this, or are you just going to run like a dog with its tail between its legs again?" his tone was bitter, accusatory. Orion winced at the sting in his words and the pain in his leg, though the doc's fingers started to work on their own, moving with deft precision, tightening the line with each follow-through. Orion held his tongue, thinking now that the stabbing pain in his leg has ceased. The words weighed heavily on his mind now that he had been slapped in the face with them, flabbergasted that through all the years, he never knew of anyone spending so much time just to track him down. Nor that there were entire threads online about sightings and where he's been. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions as he slowly let go of the bed frame. "Hey, Gepetto," he began, picking his words carefully, and taking his time to use the correct phrasing. "I need to find someone who can do a mark ten, neural synaptic upgrade. Who would you recommend?"

Gepetto's hands froze before he looked up, meeting Orion's gaze with a blank slate, impossible to read. "Not many are licensed to perform that operation. If i remember correctly, there are at least ten of us around here who are certified. Why? That's an oddly specific operation to request a reference for, Orion." he was staring hard at Orion, trying to get a read before he smiled and straightened. "Your connection is out of date, and without it, you can't talk to calypso, or rather, you can't understand her." he laughed as Orion's face went slack in surprise. "I'm old, but im not senile. Cut an old man some slack. As for a reference, not too many would be willing to actually even give you a time of day, except for one."

Orion slowly sat up, and folded his hands in his lap, attempting to seem professional, but ultimately failing as his excitement was nearly palpable. After a minute, he sat back and sighed. "Please Gepp, if I'm going to get back into the game, i need that upgrade. I'd do anything, even give my share of the winnings for the first five races to secure it." his voice was pleading, as he looked at Gepetto, a small smile spread across the old man's lips before he went back to work on his leg.

An hour later, Gepetto tied off his work and nodded, sliding off the slightly bloody gloves, before he yawned and stretched. "I'll add the thirty plus stitches to the upgrade, and I'll take the first six winning checks as payment. Along with the title to the team, and you under contract. I give two shits if the team dives, you will pay me back, one way or another, and I'll make damn sure you don't run out on me, or my baby girl again, otherwise i will hunt you down like the sorry dog you are. Your operation is in two days, and you will be staying here until i discharge you, as will calypso, because I'm not as heartless as most tend to believe. Don't make me regret doing this, because if you do, i will make sure you never sit in another mech for as long as you live. Capiche?" Orion merely nodded, completely shocked at the news and by the open threats, and he knew that Gepetto would make due on each word. He wasn't one you crossed lightly. He leaned back and sighed before exhaustion took over, and he passed back out into a world of blackness, Gepetto's words echoing as he plunged into the darkness….