Jason had always suspected that his family had been hiding something important from him. Something to do with the fact that he couldn't remember anything from when he was seven up until he was nearly sixteen. He could remember everything from a few years before he was seven, and everything after he was sixteen wasn't a problem either. It was everything in between that was a complete, massive blank spot for him. Strangely enough it hadn't affected everything he had learned in school, so he wasn't completely clueless.

The blank in his memories bothered him, so much so that whatever was missing had made him despondent that first year after the blank spot. The only thing he had ever cared about, and had seemed to help, was a small blue dragon plush toy. It was serpentine and about as long as his forearm now, and it was definitely old. His father loathed it's very existence, and Jason figured it had something to do with his missing memories. That idea made him cling to it even more, as if the toy could tell him everything, and he formed a habit of taking it everywhere with him. That pissed his father off to no end, but his mother had whispered something rather harshly to him one day that had his father laying off of the toy.

Nobody ever ridiculed him for having the dragon plush with him, something he suspected to be Grant's doing. It was like his older brother understood the importance of the silly little toy to him, probably even knew why he was so attached to it. Grant wouldn't tell him anything though, so Jason gave up on trying to find out what it was that he couldn't remember. He didn't even bother trying to see if Riley would tell him.

"I wish you could tell me, V." He gently ran his fingers over the soft fur of the dragon, taking care to not rub the old toy too hard otherwise it would start to bald. V, named so because of the bold, black V written on its information tag that was rolled and discolored, remained as silent as ever and just stared back at him with his now dulled glass eyes. "You probably remember everything I don't."

It would have been nice if V could tell him, because maybe then he wouldn't feel like he was forgetting something. Twenty-five already and no matter how hard he tried nothing ever came to him. Father was dead now and, as wrong as it was, Jason felt relieved because of that. V was probably just as relieved, considering there had been many an occasion when father had tried to destroy him.

"Tomorrow's the big day. We're moving in to an apartment in Santa Monica and it'll be just you and me, little guy." Apparently he had lived there before, during the blank in his memory, and it was the only thing his family had let slip to him concerning the past he was desperately trying to piece together. So it only made sense for him to go back.

Jason stroked the dragon plush a few more times before he carefully set V onto the motel room nightstand. He stared at the toy for a while, and when sleep finally claimed him it was with the hope that he would remember something when he got to Santa Monica tomorrow.

Memento

There wasn't really much to do except get up, eat, go to work, come home, get high, eat and then sleep. Maybe even the occasional shower. Life was monotonous, had been ever since he was eighteen. Ever since he'd lost the only person who had meant the fucking world to him.

Today was almost the same as any other, only he didn't have to work. It was one of his rare days off, and he was usually placid as hell but something about today had him restless. Maybe it was the fact that someone had finally taken the apartment across the hall from his. Nah, that was stupid. It had to be from something else.

Still, try as he might, Vaas couldn't find it in himself to just sit on his ass all day. That restlessness was driving him up the fucking wall. He was nearly ready to storm out of his apartment when there came a ruckus from the hallway. A thud followed by raucous laughter.

"Give him back!" Someone shrieked, utter terror laced in their voice.

Vaas is curious enough to open his door and glare out into the hallway. He totally did not expect to find a white boy leaning against the wall that divided the hallway from his apartment. Said white boy had a look on his face that had matched the terror in the voice from not seconds ago. It also wasn't hard to notice that he had tears in his eyes.

"Fuck! You're actually crying over a goddamn toy? Oh, this is fucking rich!" Now there was someone he was familiar with.

"Felipe, what the fuck are you doing?" Vaas snapped, eying his neighbor from down the hall.

"Vaas! You have got to check this out, man!" Felipe waved something at him, too fast for him to see, and it had the white boy repeating his demand at an even higher pitch. Felipe sidestepped the white boy and tripped him as he lunged at him, then tossed the thing in question to Vaas. "This little bitch hasn't put it down not even once while he's been moving his shit in."

Vaas reflexively caught the item, which turned out to be a really old plush toy of a serpentine blue dragon. There's something agonizingly familiar about the toy, and he could have sworn that it looked exactly like the one he'd had when he was younger. The toy was obviously well cared for, even though the information tag was curled up and discolored.

"Give him back, please," the white boy sobs out, like the toy meant the damn world to him.

"Jesus fucking Christ! It's just a stupid fucking toy, you stupid little cunt. How fucking old are you?!" Felipe turns to the white boy and threateningly pulled out his switchblade. "I say we cut the goddamn thing into itty bitty pieces and burn it, Vaas. Right in front of his eyes."

Vaas ignores Felipe and gently uncurls the tag to the dragon plush. The bold black letter V on the tag has his blood turning to ice. He's now more acutely aware of the broken sobbing coming from the white boy in the hallway, and the ice quickly turns into a raging fire. "Felipe."

"So, are we gonna do it?" Felipe has a stupid smirk on his face that Vaas suddenly wants to beat in until he is fucking bloody, if not dead. His neighbor takes a good look at him and the smirk disappears. "Vaas?"

"Get the fuck out of here before I fucking gut your stupid ass." Vaas hissed the words out as he leveled his darkest glare toward Felipe. The stupid fucker has enough sense to do as ordered and scampers down the hallway to his own apartment. As soon as Felipe was gone he bolted over to the quivering, sobbing mess of white boy and knelt down in front of him. "Shh, it's okay. Here." Terrified green eyes stare at him, then go down to the dragon plush he's holding out.

The white boy takes the toy so gently and carefully that Vaas is one hundred percent certain he knows who this is. He doesn't say anything, just watches as the toy is carefully inspected and stroked, his heart feeling like it's breaking all over again with each second that passes. There hadn't been any recognition in those eyes, but he knows the toy, and he knows those eyes.

"Thank you." It's whispered so softly that Vaas barely caught it.

"Anything for you, Jason." Those huge green eyes flick back towards him and there's so much confusion in that tear-filled gaze that it hurts.

"H-how do you know my name?"