Click.

"Hello?"

Nothing but the sound of breathing on the other end of the line. It had been like this for a few weeks now and Raiden was becoming impatient. He'd lost count of the number of times he'd been woken up in the middle of the night by his phone ringing. And that's all it ever was on the other end, just breathing. Sometimes there'd be an intake of breath as if the person on the other end was getting ready to start talking about something. Other times there was a chuckle or a sigh or a hissing breath. Raiden wasn't particularly perturbed by it, it wasn't something that frightened him, but it wasn't exactly fun to be woken up at- he looked at the clock- 3am for the third night in a row.

"Look," he said to the silence on the other side, "I don't know who you are or what your game is, but if you could stop calling me at 3am that'd be just peachy," he said through gritted teeth. There was an undiscernible mummer from the other side before a click and silence. Raiden glared at the bright light of his phone, it flashed "unknown" on the screen before displaying the time and then finally fading to black. He placed the phone back on his bedside table, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

That's how it was for the next month, sometimes it was every night, sometimes it was three times in the same night, sometimes Raiden would wake up and find that his phone hadn't rung, there were even a couple times when he was contacted during the day. It was… unnerving to say the least. Every time he'd ask who it was, why they were doing this or how the hell they got his number. Sometimes he'd spew threats and other times he'd not even speak, just listen to the breathing on the other end and question just what the hell he was doing with his life at 2am on a Wednesday morning…

"Another bad night's sleep, Raiden?" Courtney spoke to him on his codec when he was out one day fighting the seemingly endless stream of cyborgs sent after him.

"A little busy right now, Courtney," he replied, cutting an enemy in half. He faltered, losing balance momentarily on his right leg.

"I can see that. I can also see that you're not your best. Which is why I asked-" he growled down the codec at her "-take your time."

He did. He sliced, cut, diced and head-butted his way through the battle. Whoever said that Raiden was graceful when combating enemies had obviously never seen him when he was pissed off or exhausted.

When the final enemy was eliminated and Raiden had had his fill of electrolytes and he finally felt awake again, he took a moment to sheath his blade and look at the damage he had caused. Not good. Perhaps it was best to get out of this area as soon as possible. Maybe he should get the local authorities to send the bill to Maverick. He smirked at the thought. He ran and found a safe spot on a nearby rooftop.

"So, are you ever going to answer my question?" Courtney's near shrill voice broke the silence of the sunset over this usually busy city. Raiden sighed. No rest for the wicked.

"Yes, Courtney. Another bad night's sleep."

"Mysterious caller? No number, no name, just heavy breathing and the occasional sigh?"

"Yes." He was tired, he wanted to just enjoy the sunset and then go home and, hopefully, get a good night's sleep.

"Maybe it's a stalker," Courtney said excitedly. Nobody in their right mind should be excited about that being a possibility.

Raiden rolled his eyes, "Maybe," he said exasperatedly. He looked out and admired the different shades of red and yellow in the sky. It was moments like this that made him feel whole again, human. With his pain receptors on, he'd forgotten how the wind felt on what was left on his face. He inhaled the cool air, closed his eyes, and hummed.

"Maybe it's a secret admirer," Courtney sighed longingly. Moment ruined. Raiden didn't even bother responding. "Have you given your phone number out to anyone recently? Maybe it's someone you met on a missio- uh- outing of yours."

"I try not to give my number out to anyone, Courtney, let alone creeps that would just breathe down the phone at me…" There was a long silence after that and Raiden began to enjoy the silence of the evening again. His mind wandered. The calls were not something he worried about much. They'd become a regular occurrence that he actually kind of welcomed. Many times the calls just so happened to wake him from a nightmare about his past. Sometimes he enjoyed hearing, at 5 o'clock in the morning, that there was someone else out there in the world who was awake and unable to sleep. There were times when the calls lasted seconds, either Raiden would hang up out of annoyance or the line would suddenly go dead. There were times when the calls lasted minutes. Sometimes Raiden questioned the other voice and sometimes he just listened to the unintelligible sounds coming from the other end and he'd find comfort in it. It was strange, really, that he found comfort in such a basic sound as someone breathing.

"Is it a man or a woman?" Courtney's question pulled Raiden from his thoughts. He realised the sun had set past the horizon, and the few stars that could be seen through the light pollution had begun to shine.

"Excuse me?"

"The voice on the other end. Is it a man's voice or a woman's voice?" Courtney looked puzzled.

Raiden contemplated for a moment before sighing. "Courtney, as the person has never actually spoken on the other end, and as people in general can have a wide range of vocal abilities that can be perceived as masculine, feminine or other… it's difficult to tell," he tutted, uninterested.

"Haven't you ever wondered?" She leaned forward, her voice high in pitch.

He paused. Swallowed.

"You have, haven't you?" She relaxed back in her chair and raised her eyebrows. And he knew what the next question was going to be before it left her mouth. "So, what do you think?"

He contemplated. Why was this so important to her? Why was she so interested in this person that kept calling Raiden in the middle of the night? Why was he indulging her with an answer? "Man," a curt response.

"Ooooh?" She giggled then, adjusting her glasses slightly as they'd slipped down her nose. "Is that based off of some sort of evidence, or…?"

"The breathing sounds deep, and what little noises I have heard have been too."

"Sounds creepy… Is it metallic?"

"No, not a robot or AI, definitely human… At least, I think." He'd been around humans and AI enough to know the difference between the two. But sometimes he did doubt himself. Besides, it was difficult to tell over the phone as more often than not even human voices sounded slightly robotic.

"Hmm…" Courtney breathed out. "You know, if you want, I'm sure someone here at Maverick could trace the call for you. Hell, I could probably do it right now if you asked nicely…"

"It's fine, Courtney. It's not a bother to me, really."

She decided to drop it there as she'd found out all she wanted to know. This was good because it was all that Raiden could offer her right now as he didn't know much more himself. That and he didn't want to give the real reason as to why he hadn't asked his ex-colleagues to trace the call. They said their farewells to each other and then Raiden turned his codec off for good, opting instead to watch the night sky in peace. That was, until the partying started in the streets below. Raiden thought that 8pm was a good time to start on his way home, dark enough to not be noticed by the public but early enough to try and get a good night's sleep.

What he didn't know was that last night was the best night's sleep he'd get in a while.

When he got home at around 9pm he found himself utterly exhausted and barely able to stand. He welcomed his bed. But what's more is he actually looked forward to the unscheduled wakeup call in the early hours of the morning. He removed the parts of his outer cyborg enhancements that he could, put on his skin (he didn't really know why he did this, it just felt nicer to sleep in his skin, more restful) placed his phone on his bedside table and got into bed. He played a game with himself before he drifted off entirely. He guessed what time the call would come. He finally concluded it would be 4am and closed his eyes.

At 1 am his phone rang. At first he was pissed, cursing internally at the high pitched beeping that was emanating from the small object near him. Then he remembered what waited for him. He sat up, cleared his throat and answered the phone.

"Hello?" He said. He knew it was futile. There was a choked noise on the other side. Raiden smirked. "Who is this?" Again, useless. But it did award him with a breathy chuckle. Sometimes he wondered if the person on the other end was doing something sordid. He felt his cheeks warm at the thought. "Hey…" what was he trying to say? Where was that sentence going to go? He didn't really know. All he knew was that he really wanted to have a conversation with this unknown person. "At least tell me your name?" Nothing. "Are you a man or a woman?" A chuckle. Raiden chuckled too and the breath on the other end hitched. At this, Raiden became puzzled. A pause. "A friend of mine thinks you're a secret admirer… are you?" This time a full laugh came through the phone and Raiden couldn't help but laugh too. "I'll take that as a no, then." There was a very long pause then, Raiden listened to the person on the other end false start a number of times. It was clear the person on the other end wanted to say something but either couldn't find the words, couldn't find the courage or wasn't physically able to talk. "Are you ok?" He asked, genuinely worried. There was an audible swallow, a long, slow intake of breath, and, finally, a long, nearly vocalised sigh. They both stayed silent for a while longer. Raiden was about to say his goodbyes and hang up when he heard the other person try to start a sentence again. He thought to himself that he'd give the voice a few more minutes before he went back to sleep, exhaustion once again pressing on his mind.

And that's what it took. There was 5 whole minutes of awkward noises, gasps, breaths and false starts before the voice finally whispered out an unmistakeable phrase.

"Pretty boy."

The line went dead.