At his apartment Adam could relax, calm his body that was always on high alert, and soothe his muscles that ached from the long hours of stress. No better way to do that than with a shower; warm water washing away the grime that seemed to cling to him in this city. He couldn't spend too long, however, it was already six and he promised Theia he'd meet her at Svobody to catch up.

His hand hesitated for a moment on the shower knob before he turned it off, large clouds of steam rising from his naked skin as he took the towel off the wall and dried himself off. As the towel ran across his short hair it smoothed it down for a split second before it regained the slightly spiked appearance that he barely had to maintain; finishing off with a quick comb through and he was done with that part of his grooming ritual.

Looking at himself in the mirror he turned his head to each side, inspecting his beard that already had a bit of stubble messing with the straight lines and corners he trimmed each morning.

"Probably don't need to do anything about that just yet. It's not a date."

Adam kept repeating that to himself as if to reassure his racing mind. It wasn't a date, just shooting the shit with an old friend, catching up over decades spent apart.

But still, he continued to deny to himself that he was ecstatic to see her again.

Growing up on the same street together meant they saw each other every day. Same elementary school, middle school, they even shared half a year as high school freshmen together before her parents broke up. That meant every day on the playground together as kids, summers spent either at each other's houses or at the same summer camp, every weekend running around the local area getting themselves into new trouble. Theia always called it adventure, and always had his back when they got in over their heads.

And he had hers, at least back then. Although he was more of a empathic pacifist back then. The world did a good job at beating that out of him.

A quick glance at the clock on his HUD showed he only had ten minutes left. Enough time to get dressed and down to the bar. He doubted she'd be that annoyed if he showed up late anyway.


Theia was standing in the courtyard of their apartment complex as Adam left, closing the door and locking it behind him. She didn't know exactly where Svobody was but she had GPS on her phone and could find her way there. The sound of footsteps made her turn around, looking up at see Adam standing behind her.

She waved at him with a bright smile on her face. "Hey, Adam! I was just on my way to the bar, but my slow as shit phone is slowing me down."

"No problem. It's pretty much down the street." Adam walked ahead of her, holding the door to the street open for her behind him.

"This city is kinda... well, depressing might be a bit of a strong word for it."

"You'll get used to it. Just make sure you've got your papers on you at all times. And watch out for fake cops trying to sell you bogus papers."

Theia raised an eyebrow in skepticism, following him out to the sidewalk and walking beside him. "Some people here are actually that slimy? Shit, and I thought Detroit was bad."

Funny, he didn't remember her swearing like a sailor. "Yeah." A long pause, only interrupted by the sound of their footsteps lingered into awkward silence. "So... you set up in your place?" Adam wasn't very good at small talk, but he wasn't quite sure where to start and felt like activating his CASIE aug would just lead to distrust between them.

"Everything except my bed. It was supposed to be in yesterday but the shipment is delayed. But the couch was comfy enough."

"Your apartment wasn't furnished?"

"Eh... apparently the girl living in my place beforehand left a mess to clean up behind her when she moved out. Nobody would tell me the full story no matter how hard I pried but it's not a huge deal." She shrugged, that perpetual smile still on her face causing her dimples to show. The faintest of crow's feet crinkling around her eyes betrayed her true age. "Just means I gotta wait for a new bed."

He held back a chuckle at his own thoughts, his brain had the fleeting idea to offer his bed to her but he decided against it. "Hopefully it gets there soon. No matter how comfortable a couch may be it'll get to you." Even with his own augmentations he tried to avoid sleeping on his couch, only occasionally finding himself there the morning after a few too many drinks and regretting it each time.

"Hey, this the place?" Theia stopped in front of a glass storefront, pointing her thumb towards the sign.

"Yeah, almost walked right past it." Adam once again held the door open for her, eliciting a smirk from Theia.

"Such a chivalrous knight. Shall I offer mine hand for thou to kiss it?"

This earned a small chuckle from Adam, a rare smile gracing his features as he shook his head. "Theia you still say the weirdest shit."

"Ah but you still laughed." Walking past him and up to the bar, she spoke the little broken Czech she knew. "Ahoj! Co tady pít?"

Theresa looked up from her spot behind the empty bar, smiling as she saw Adam. "You don't have to worry about speaking Czech here, I know English just fine."

"Ah shit, my bad." Theia looked a bit nervous as her cheeks flushed pink at the slight embarrassment. "What's good to drink here?"

"Well we're known for our Svobody beer. If you're not a big fan of that I've got a few different bottles of wine. You want harder stuff you'll have to look elsewhere." She looked away from Theia and nodded at Adam. "How have you been? We just got done with happy hour but for you and your friend I can make an exception."

"Not needed, but thanks." It seemed Theresa was still happy about the neuropozyne he got her, but he didn't want to harm her profits. Besides, he had the credits to pay for whatever the two of them wanted to drink.

"I'm not normally a beer drinker, but I'll try a Svobody."

"Make it two, on my tab."

"Alright." Theresa pulled out two beers from below the bar, deftly popping the tops off the bottles and setting them on the bar.

"Oh wow you've even got a tab here." Theia smirked at him as she grabbed her beer and went to one of the tables. "You've established yourself so well, sure you'll ever want to leave?" Her tone was mocking, but in the same sense that Pritchard and Adam used to jab at each other. A fleeting thought crossed his mind as to how the hacker was doing before he sat down across from Theia.

"I like the atmosphere here." His voice also had a playful tone to it, returning her quip with one of his own. He took a long swig of his beer, setting it down on the table and locking eyes with her. "So... what made you decide to take this job?"

"The money is amazing." She said in a matter of fact tone. "That and business has really dried up since the incident." For once her smile faltered, a sort of melancholy coloring her expression before she looked back at him with a renewed smile. "Not to mention the luck I must have for running into you of all people halfway across the world from Detroit."

"Yeah, happy little coincidence..." He trailed off, taking another long drink from his now almost empty bottle.

"So what kind of trouble did you get yourself into while I was gone?" That playful tone was back, she took a small sip from her own bottle before continuing. "You carry yourself differently. I'm guessing either military or police work with those impressive augs you got there."

"Would you believe I got these working private security?"

"Did the building you were guarding fall on top of you or something?"

"Not exactly... there was an accident." He wasn't going to go into the details with her, not yet. He still didn't know if he could trust her like that. Her connection to Dr. Auzenne assuaged his suspicions somewhat, but he couldn't let go of the idea that the Illuminati was trying to fuck with him.

"Ah yeah, that's how I got these." She did some mock flexing of her augmented arms. "Car accident, I was buckled in but my arms flew forward and got stuck between the dash and the other car." She shrugged, as if her story was but a minor inconvenience for her. "I had two options, wallow in self pity or, as the great Bruce Lee once said: 'be like water, my friend'. I chose to be the river and not the stone, forging my own way ahead."

She looked down at her beer, that look of melancholy taking over once again.

"I was lucky, the guy driving the car I was in was killed, and when the news hit the papers I got a call from a representative of Sarif Industries. Said they wanted to reach out to me as an act of charity." She scoffed. "Of course I thought I was going to be indebted to them like Blind Mag in Repo."

Sarif. Another coincidence? Her reference was lost to him, however. "In what?"

Her mouth opened in an exaggerated expression of shock. "Repo! The Genetic Opera? Came out in, like, '09? Only hailed as the Rocky Horror Picture Show of our generation?"

"Not a big movie buff."

"We're gonna have to remedy that one of these days!" She clapped her hand against the table in declaration. "Show you all the good movies! Repo, The Crow, you've probably already seen The Matrix by the looks of that trench coat."

"Very funny."

"Whatever you say, Neo." She smirked, downing the last of her beer. "That stuff is actually pretty good. Thanks for buying it but I've got the next round." Theia stood up, heading back to the bar and ordering two more, paying with her credit card and sitting back down across from him.

"So, seriously, you dodged the question. What did you do without me there to add excitement and adventure to your life?"

"Hah. Boring stuff. Police, SWAT, head of security for Sarif Industries actually."

"So those are Sarif augs, too? Looks a hell of a lot nicer than mine." Theia drank this beer eagerly, already accustomed to the taste. "Then again I got mine back in... fuck, 2020 I think? At least I'm lucky in the fact I don't need neuropozyne as often as most people."

"Must be nice." He cast a glance over at Theresa still behind the bar, he didn't know why she needed the neuropozyne he gave her but he knew how much it affected those who needed it.

"So probably not tonight but what do you say to movie night at my place tomorrow night? I bet you'll like The Crow if I can find it. Has Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee in it as a man brought back to life to avenge the death of himself and his girlfriend. He's pretty much immortal and goes on a killing spree to get to the top of the gang that started it all."

Despite the parallels he saw to his own history with Megan Reed in that synopsis he was indeed intrigued. "Sure, why not. Same time tomorrow night at your place?"

"It's a date." Theia laughed, a bright sort of laughter that could make anyone feel happier just by listening to it. "Of course I'm kidding. Don't want to get you in trouble at work. Want to head out now? It's been three hours already and I need sleep for training tomorrow."

"Sure." He couldn't help but smile as he stood, offering his hand to her to help her stand.

"Thanks, Adam. You still are the caring guy I knew back when we were younger. I can tell." She took his hand, accepting his offer to help her up, and was it his imagination or did her hand linger there for a few moments longer than needed? Must have been the alcohol. He lost track of the beers they had thrown back during their conversation and didn't bother to count the numerous bottles on the table.

"Come on, let's get home." He allowed her to stabilize herself against him as they walked, the alcohol obviously affecting her more than him. They walked in silence, although it was no longer awkward but more of a comfortable silence. As if everything needed to be said had been said and they could just enjoy each other's company.


Once up to her apartment he helped her to the couch, he recognized the apartment as Daria Myska's old one. She had been taken into custody and last he heard she was getting the psychiatric help she needed. Theia patted the spot next to her in an invitation for him to sit down. "It's been great catching up. You know you're pretty much the only person I've legitimately missed since my mom moved us out of Detroit?"

He sat down next to her on the small couch, the short length of it forcing him to lean against her. "Really? Had no idea. Must have missed my charming personality." His tone was more relaxed, his body language as well showed signs of decreased stress and anxiety around her. Delara was right, Theia was someone who made you feel comfortable no matter who you were.

"Oh stop." She teased, mock hitting him in the arm. "You were my only friend back then. Us weird kids had to stick together..." Her voice trailed off, a blissful smile on her face as she became engrossed in her reverie.

"Theia..." Adam retracted his sunglasses, allowing him to look directly into her eyes; those deep sapphire orbs that always made her look otherworldly to him. "I... I missed you too." Part of his mind screamed that he was making a mistake, that he shouldn't trust anyone around here, not even someone he once knew.

However his thoughts were wiped blank by the feel of her lips pressing tenderly against his. The kiss was fleeting, Theia pulling away before he could even register what happened, leaving him just staring down at her dumbfounded as she grinned.

"Hah. Whoops. Shouldn't'a done that." Her speech slurred together, a dark red flush tinting her cheeks. She laughed it off, leaving Adam still speechless before he stood up quickly.

"I should go. You're not in your right mind, obviously the beer got to your head a bit." He manged to stammer out the sentence as he turned around to open the door. "I'll see you at work tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright! Goodnight, Adam." She still grinned that Cheshire grin as she watched him from the couch, Adam closing the door behind him and leaning against it to calm himself down.

"What the hell was that?" His mind raced and his heart pounded from the adrenaline rushing through his system. "I'll have to apologize tomorrow. Shouldn't have put myself in that situation."

Adam had showered once already today, but perhaps another, colder, shower was in order before he want to bed tonight.