A few days passed and nothing had gone back to normal. He had done a decent job at avoiding her. Mostly for the usual reasons, but also because of a disturbing new one. He admonished himself for having taken solace in her presence, and vowed not to let it happen again. It didn't matter how much he missed his mother, or how confused he was by everything. Her touch should have never meant comfort to him. This woman would gladly leave him for dead if things were the way they were supposed to be, and he was supposed to feel the same way.

She'd noticed how distant he seemed, but tried not to complain. She thought maybe moving here was stressing him out. He knew this because she wouldn't stop asking how he was doing, or if he liked being here. The apartment was mostly sorted by now, with everything unpacked for her father's visit. It wasn't really something he was looking forward too. He'd never met her father. Dorai had been killed by Shadaloo before Vega had joined them.

He couldn't really find a valid excuse to not be present for this meeting, hard as he tried. He thought of himself as a creative person, but he was failing in that department at the moment. In a last desperate bid, he thought about playing sick, but Dorai was already on his way. Too late now. So he had to have dinner with the father of a woman he hated, and pretend to like it. And the father was also supposed to be dead, but why should he let that bother him?

When the knocking on the door came, he tried to stop himself from feeling so anxious. Why was this such a problem? He'd spent years pretending to be a well-rounded, personable, almost-celebrity, talking to people who would have cried out in horror if they'd known the more unsavory things he liked to do with his time. So if he could keep up appearances for an entire country, why couldn't he do so for one dinner? He breathed deeply as he heard Chun-Li's footsteps heading for the door. It was a problem, he decided, because up until now, her dad existed only in thoughts and words. To see him in the flesh meant solidifying one of the most bizarre aspects of this 'reality'. It meant he really was alive, and that things had changed, for better or worse.

"Oh!" he heard her practically squeal as she opened the door. The noise made him grit his teeth. So excited to see her dad. It should've been his mother at that door. "What a surprise!" he heard her add. What was so surprising about a visit she knew was coming? He ran his fingers through his hair and looked in the mirror. And almost as if it were as easy as changing clothes, he went from resentful to inviting.

He learned when he left the bathroom that the surprise was a few of her friends. His stomach dropped as he realized how much more effort this was going to take to get through. They were talking over each other to greet her and she returned the greetings to all of them. He recognized two of them. The brash and impetuous Ken Masters was in the process of giving Chun-Li a hug. He caught sight of the large frame of one of Shadaloo's most persistent pests, William Guile. There was also a pair of pretty blonde women he didn't recognize, gushing over how long it'd been since they'd seen Chun-Li. And finally, her father, smiling warmly and explaining how he thought it'd be such a wonderful surprise to have some of her closest friends in the country to welcome her back. He took another deep breath, not quite prepared for everything this was going to entail. An evening with one extra person he hated was one thing. An evening with five extra people he hated was another matter entirely.

When he finally made his way into the room with the rest of them, it set off another round of greetings which he forced himself to return with a smile and a nod. He wasn't sure how well he was supposed to know these people. The matter was cleared up a bit by way of introductions. He suppressed the instinct to step away when Chun-Li put a hand on his shoulder. "Of course you've met my dad already. But this is Will, his wife Julia, who is Eliza's sister. And her fiance, Ken."

"Nice to meet you, man," Ken said extending a hand, and he took it without outward complaint. "Dorai said you're like, an artist, or something?"

Or something. Like a seasoned professional assassin. He just nodded in response. He wasn't sure what he was, as far as these people were concerned. "That is sooo cool," Eliza sighed. "I wish I was good at something like that."

If she hadn't been pleasing to look at, he would've gotten indignant from those words. They implied art didn't take work, that it wasn't something he'd had to practice and study and learn. On the one hand, there was a pleasant implication that he had some natural, innate talent, but then, that meant it could be something anyone could have by random chance, and he certainly didn't like that. He voiced his complaint more politely than he thought it. "It just takes years of work."

"Oh, your accent!" the woman chirped. "It's so cute." So, perhaps he could deal with her doting on him at least.

"Babe," Ken said, feigning hurt.

"Don't even start," Chun-Li said, stepping in for Eliza. "If womanizing was an Olympic sport, they'd have to find something above gold to give you."

"So I'm good at it?"

"Quit while you're ahead, kid," Guile said, patting Ken on the shoulder.

"We did come all this way to see Chun-Li's new home," Dorai reminded everyone before they all got lost in conversation.

"Maybe you did, old man, but there are some bars here I haven't been to in far, far too long," Ken said.

Guile snorted and Julia laughed. "Glad to know you still care," Chun-Li sighed.

Her dad put an arm around her shoulder and shook his head. "Why don't you show us around?" Dorai said.

Vega waited as she led her friends and family down the hall. This night could not be over soon enough. He could hear them talking as he waited in the kitchen. There was no reason to follow them around. There were a grand total of two rooms to show off. How extravagant. Surely it warranted a tour. "...as you can see, it's still a work in progress," he could hear her say. No doubt Ken would let loose some pithy one-liner. He glanced up as she led them back down the hall to the bedroom.

"Love your color scheme in here," he heard Julia say.

"Thanks. I hear winters can get pretty monotonous here and I just wanted some bright blue colors around to look at, just in case," Chun-Li explained and he rolled his eyes. Yes, how terribly innovative and worthy of comment to pick the blue bed sheets.

"Your place is nice and cozy," Eliza said to Chun-Li as the came back out to the kitchen.

"Yeah, trust me, you don't want a big place anyway. It's a hassle to keep up with," Ken said, waving a hand.

"Like you've ever cleaned anything in your life," Eliza shot back.

"Maybe his plate," Guile put in. Chun-Li laughed.

"That's as good a segue as any," she said. "I hadn't really picked anywhere for dinner yet."

"Oh, come on, like it's even a question," Ken said. "This is Chicago, baby, we're eating pizza."

"Maybe not everyone likes pizza, Ken," Julia said. Vega didn't miss the purposeful look she gave the other man, or the way her eyes flicked towards him.

"Everybody likes pizza," Ken muttered. He looked at Vega. "I mean, you're okay with that?"

No, he wasn't. Greasy, cheese-laden slabs of dough slathered in sugary tomato sauce with basically no nutritional value were not his idea of a good meal. "With a strong enough drink to make me forget the taste, maybe," he responded dryly.

But Ken laughed and slung an arm around his shoulder, causing him no end of irritation. "This guy knows how to party, I can tell," he said with a grin. Before Vega could say anything else, Ken was already listing off a few places he had in mind. As much as he wanted to protest the meal, he had a feeling he wasn't going to enjoy this night regardless of whether he was served a plate of hot garbage or not. So he kept quiet, preserving all of the self-control it was going to take to make it through this.

Ken guided them to the agreed upon destination. Vega trailed behind, not very comfortable with speaking to any of them. Chun-Li was engrossed in a conversation with her dad. Eliza and Ken bickered while Guile added his two cents every so often, and Julia would smile. He didn't really fit into all of this and he wasn't too concerned with trying anyway.

It was quite cold. The last rays of the sun glimmered against the glass of the buildings, doing little to provide any warmth. He pressed his hands deeper into his pockets and hoped the walk wasn't too far. It would only get colder. The city was still busy, with crowded sidewalks, noisy traffic, and trains squealing and rumbling overhead.

"It's a lot at once, I know," a kind voice said softly beside him. He looked up, having been watching for wads of chewing gum on the sidewalk. Chun-Li wrapped her arm around his. "I'm sorry if it's a little stressful. I didn't expect them to all be here."

He looked at her for a minute while they waited for the signal to change. He couldn't get over how strange it was for her to treat him so kindly. She was supposed to hate him. "It's fine," he said.

"I mean, I understand if it's overwhelming. Ken alone is kind of like...enough friend to be five on his own."

Still, he shook his head. Her worrying annoyed him. Like he wasn't used to pretending to tolerate obnoxious people he couldn't stand. "It's all right," he said, hoping she'd stop reassuring him.

"Okay, good," she said warmly. "When I saw they were all here, I was really excited. My dad said they'd been planning to surprise me since I told him I'd be moving here. So it's thanks to you."

"How?"

She looked at him like he should know better. "Because you picked a job in America over the one I know you really wanted back in Spain, just so I could be closer to my family. I can't even begin to describe how sweet that is." She hugged his arm a little tighter, and his lips formed into a firm line. So he could make her happy at the expense of his own comfort. What a thrill that was. "And I guess you can think of this as a primer for next weekend."

God, how many obligations did he have? "What?" he asked.

"You know. Ken and Eliza's wedding. We're going to be exhausted through all of this. Moving here, getting two weeks to ourselves before jetting off to Seattle, then coming back. But I wouldn't miss it, they've always been such good friends. And I'm really happy you're being so accommodating and coming along."

Why the hell had he offered to do that? He hoped above all else that he'd go back to his normal life before the next week was up. What a cruel joke this all was, being forced over and over again to spend time in the company of people who would normally have delighted in beating him half to death or throwing him in jail for the rest of his life.

It wasn't much longer before he found himself in a noisy, crowded, kitschy establishment that he supposed was decorated that way to feel more authentic and local. It was just ugly, but no one seemed to care. Ken, ever the boss of the group, snatched up a menu and said, "All right, what do you guys eat on your pizzas so I can tell you how wrong you are?" The others bickered with him playfully about toppings, and Vega remained largely silent until Ken remembered him. "How about it?" he asked.

He tried to think of the grossest thing people generally put on pizzas. Having never eaten them himself, he glanced at the menu and guessed. "Anchovies. Just anchovies."

"And with that you have waived all rights concerning pizza toppings," Ken said. He didn't mind, and stayed out of the apparently heated decision making process. It shouldn't have surprised him that food was such serious business for Americans. The conversation took off without him and he ignored most of it, catching snatches here and there, until something interesting finally came up.

"...and Ryu's off on his whole, 'gotta train' thing again."

"How is he?" Chun-Li asked. "I haven't seen him in...wow, almost five years now."

"He's fine. I mean after that craziness with those terrorist guys, I'm surprised he ever entered a martial arts tournament again."

"Terrorists?" Vega asked abruptly.

"Oh, hey, you're awake," Ken said.

"He's talking about Shadaloo," Guile answered. "Ryu was offered a job by them after they held a martial arts tournament as a front for recruitment. When he refused, they almost killed him."

"Yeah, he started doing more research on his tournaments after that, and he won't go back to Thailand anymore," Ken added.

"Not many people do these days," Dorai said darkly.

"Oh, it's just so awful," Julia put in. "Those poor people. When is someone going to do something about that Bison guy?"

"It's more of a delicate situation than it seems," Guile said.

"Yes, but she's right," Dorai said. "It is awful. I wonder all of the time if I ever should've quit my work on them. I had some fairly hot leads back then. I find myself speculating about what would've happened if I'd pursued them."

Vega suddenly found himself choking on the water he'd been drinking. All eyes were on him now, and he flushed red from the attention being paid to his mistake as he coughed and sputtered into his hand. "Drink much?" Ken said smugly with a lopsided grin.

"I didn't expect even the water in America to have corn syrup in it," Vega shot back in a strained voice.

Ken laughed loudly apparently not understanding it was an insult, not friendly banter. "Nice," he said. "Speaking of drinks, you still want that liquor, so you can choke on that too?" Vega didn't get a chance to respond, but his face said enough.

"Oh, Ken, honestly, not every night at a restaurant has to turn into a party," Eliza sighed.

That didn't stop him from ordering a round of shots anyway. Challenges and rivalry were the only ways he knew how to make friends. So that's what he did. "I know," he said. "Let's make it a game. Who has a quarter or something?"

Julia set a penny on the table. "That's all you get," she warned him. She pushed the shot that'd been set in front of her to Eliza who was sitting beside her. Ken took the penny, and tapped it against the table as he talked.

"Okay. Um, Chun-Li, switch seats with me, girls versus guys," he said. Vega didn't enjoy the prospect of sitting next to Ken, but neither was he willing to show that. Maybe that's why Ken did it. "Okay. You know how to play Up Jenkins?" Vega stared at him and Ken took it as a 'no'. The word 'jenkins' sounded like something deep fried to him, vaguely conjuring up a detestable American southern accent. "It's easy. I'm gonna pass this penny over to Eliza, one of them is gonna hide it in their hand, and you have to try to find it, pointing out if it is or isn't in their hand." Ken reached under the table, and Eliza giggled.

"I hope that's all you're doing under there," Guile said sternly.

"Naturally," Ken sighed. "Chill." Guile still didn't look amused. Dorai smirked, shaking his head a little. "Okay, so, up Jenkins!" All at once, Julia, Eliza, and Chun-Li held their hands up, elbows on the table and the backs of their hands facing outward. "Down Jenkins!" They all slammed their hands down at about the same time. "Hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"The penny. Clink clink." Ken scrunched his face as he studied the girls' expressions. Eliza was a terrible liar, Chun-Li was okay, but Julia was stone-faced. She had one of the better poker faces he'd ever seen.

Guile reached over the table and tapped Julia's right hand. "Not here," he said.

Ken touched Chun-Li's left hand. "Or here."

Vega sighed, the sound being lost in the noisy restaurant. What he wouldn't give right now for a plane ticket to Europe. He touched a finger beside Chun-Li's hand, simply because it was closest. "Not here." No penny.

"Oh, poor, poor, Eliza," Ken sighed.

"Oh yeah? You wanted those shots so bad, they're yours," she said with a cocky smile.

Guile tapped Eliza's left hand. No coin. Ken heaved a dramatic breath, smacked Eliza's right hand playfully with a cry of, "It's here!", and...

"Ah, damn it." No penny.

"Ha-HAH," Eliza crowed. "In your face Ken Masters!"

He smirked and waved a hand at her. He picked up his drink, and nodded to Vega. "It was a good try, right?" He knocked it back, Guile and Vega following his example. "So you get it now?" he asked Vega.

He nodded, not really wanting it all explained to him again. He didn't realize that entailed agreeing to a few more rounds of the dumb little game, each one pushing him a little closer to upending Ken from his chair and throttling him. Dorai watched from the end of the table, amused and only vaguely keeping score. The girls were winning, and Ken was loudly wondering when Eliza got so good at lying. "I think you ladies had better go easy on them," Dorai advised playfully.

"That's not what you taught me," Chun-Li piped up, her team having suffered only one loss so far.

Dorai glanced over at his daughter's boyfriend, who didn't seem to be very focused on the conversation. "Right."

When the food eventually came, Vega had even less interest in it than before. He initially thought it could end up being tolerable. But now he saw the error of his assumptions. The alcohol in his otherwise empty stomach was daring him to add hot grease to the mix and wait several hours to better understand the meaning of misery. He remembered that there was a bathroom he could go to and get a few minutes away from the rest of them. It might also make it less apparent he wasn't eating anything. He felt a little unstable on his feet, but persisted. That was when he saw him.

Balrog was not easy to miss. He was quite a large man, with intense eyes that intimidated just about everyone they settled on. He sat at a table with two other men across from him, leaving one empty seat beside him. He was leaning forward, talking in a low voice. Vega couldn't hear the conversation over the noise. Against his better judgement, he took the seat next to the man. He could have answers. He couldn't pass up the opportunity. What were the chances, after all?

"Can I help you?" the man said dangerously, his deep voice carrying a clear threat.

"We have to talk, now," Vega demanded, squeezing his hands to fists on the table. The other two men regarded him warily before returning their eyes to Balrog.

"I think you got the wrong table," Balrog said. "I got you, okay? You're a little drunk, it's a Friday night, you're doing your thing with your friends. That's cool. But you'd better get your ass back with them before you hurt yourself."

"Don't make a scene, you idiot!" Vega said back. He held a finger up to the other two men before they could interrupt. "Something's happened. You need to tell Bison. I don't know what's going on. I need to get in touch with him, quickly."

Balrog was unreadable. Vega supposed you don't grow up in Las Vegas without learning a trick like that. "What's your name, princess?"

Vega laughed. Princess. It was what Balrog had always called him, since day one, for not being as disgustingly muscular as him and actually taking care of his appearance. The shock that a man might comb his hair, or use soap, dear God. He sighed loudly, stopping himself from starting a fight. "Vega. Tell Bison that Commander Vega is looking for him. I can't make it back to Shadaloo right now, but he has to fix this, because I don't know how." He spread his hands as he spoke, emphasizing his predicament but never really explaining it.

Balrog narrowed his eyes, but nodded slowly. "You got a number?"

"Yes," Vega said, relieved. Maybe whatever went wrong had gotten to Balrog, too, but certainly Bison would remember him. Hell, he was probably the one who'd caused all of this somehow. Vega looked at his phone, finding the unfamiliar number, and jotting it onto a napkin. "And make it fast. This situation is maddening."

"I don't make any promises," Balrog said. "But I'll relay the message."

"Thank God. You're good for something, at least," Vega muttered. "Pardon the interruption." He nodded to the pair of men on the other side of the table before heading for the bathroom.

"You know that guy?" one of them asked once the babbling stranger left.

Balrog snorted. "Shit, never seen him before in my life. But he sounds like he knows just a little too much." Balrog held up his phone, snapping a quick picture of the guy calling himself a Shadaloo commander. It was grainy given the low light, but it'd do. He attached it to a message directed to his boss: "I think I got a project for your girls."

you all will never know how much grief it has caused me to write badly about pizza in this chapter... D: thank you to the two anonymous reviewers. Fantastic-there are some Chun-Li and Vega stories floating around on here! I can't think of the authors' names, but the stories are "Bleed", "Deep Core Crisis", and "Except Without Strength". Hey-That is a good idea! Maybe once this is finished I will append a short chapter, as I'm not sure I have enough in mind for a whole other story. Thanks for the suggestion :)