Mr. Crepsley sat down on Darren's futon, and waited for Darren to close the door. Ki sat next to Mr. Crepsley, and jumped slightly as Darren closed his apartment door.

"So what…What are you doing here?" Darren asked, sitting on the floor, in front of Mr. Crepsley.

"Enough with your questions, boy," Mr. Crepsley looked at Sammy, who was sleeping under the coffee table. "I want to know, first off, how you two met."

Ki looked at Darren, who was looking at his feet.

"I was trying to get a soda, from a vending machine. And, this young lady assisted me, in my attempt." Darren wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Assisted you? I retrieved your drink, for you." Ki grinned.

"OK, maybe I wasn't clear enough. What are you doing here, Ki?" Mr. Crepsley asked, drumming his fingers on his thigh.

"I was looking for Merlot. I'm not going to let him off with a slap on the wrist. I want him to suffer, how I suffered when he murdered my parents." Ki looked away, wiping stray tears from her eyes.

"I see. What else has happened to you, Ki?" Mr. Crepsley asked, nodding to Ki's leather wristbands on both of her wrists.

"Wrist support, can't go get carpel tunnel when looking for an enemy." Ki laughed nervously.

"Really, is that what those things are for?" Mr. Crepsley held out his left hand, "Can I have a look at them?"

"No." Ki said quickly.

"I'm confused here –"

"Shut up, boy!" Mr. Crepsley hissed, cutting off Darren. "Let me see your, how do you put it? Wrist supports."

"No. Listen, Uncle Crepsy…Are you aware that Paris is dead?" Ki asked, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Mr. Crepsley dropped his hand, and his eyes softened as he looked at Ki. "When did you find out?"

"A few hours ago," Ki looked at Mr. Crepsley, anger swimming around in her eyes. "You knew? You knew, and you didn't tell me?!"

"Ki, I had no way of contacting you." Mr. Crepsley tried to rest a hand on Ki's shoulder.

Ki shrugged off his hand, and glared at him. "What about flitting? Or were you too tired?"

"Ki, please," Mr. Crepsley said softly.

"No!" Ki stood up, throwing off her two leather wristbands. "You see this?"

Mr. Crepsley, and Darren, looked at Ki's exposed wrists. Scars ran in a neat line, along both of her wrists.

"Ki, why did you…Our kind don't do trivial things like that." Mr. Crepsley said, sadly.

"Trivial? You call my pain trivial?! I could've…" Ki looked out, towards Darren's balcony.

Darren followed Ki's gaze. His eyes widened, in fear.

"Stop trying to avert the conversation. I…" Mr. Crepsley followed their gaze.

Outside the balcony window stood Merlot an evil grin on his face.

"Long time no see, Ki." Merlot hissed, punching the glass.

"Shit." Darren muttered.

"What?" Ki asked, her eyes still locked on Merlot.

"I just cleaned the carpet yesterday." Darren mumbled.

"You idiot!" Ki slapped Darren in the back of the head.

Merlot darted forward, grabbing Ki in a chokehold.

"My, my, my how you've grown." Merlot purred, tightening his hold on Ki's neck. "You look just like your mother did. Well, that is before I killed her."

Ki kicked Merlot with her heels, and scurried towards Darren.

"Fighting just makes it more entertaining for me," Merlot stopped in mid-step, and looked out into the night sky.

He turned around, before leaving and growled:

"You can run. But you can't hide."

Ki shook in Darren's arms, and Mr. Crepsley stood there speechless. Minutes passed before someone spoke.

"I'm not cleaning that up." Darren said, eyeing the shard of glass that littered his floor.