Hey readers! Sorry it took longer to post this than the other two. Real life can get distracting sometimes. Not a lot happened in this chapter in a literal sense but I needed to properly convey the hold that Julia's character had on Alex in the past. Things are going to pick up in the chapters to come, I promise. And this one is a little shorter than the others but I found it appropriate to stop where it was and let it sink in. Thanks for all the support and favs/follows! I hope y'all enjoy it and please review if you have the time!

-Sincerely, InfinitelyAnonymous

Julia disembarked her ship with grace and elegance that seemed to come natural. She carried it in her aura and in every move she made. Alex stared in awe as she approached him, almost as if he were dreaming. Then the reality train came crashing into him and he realized she was standing directly in front of him; speaking to him no less.

"Hey you're the Titan we just ran into on Venus, right? Thanks for the help man."

Alex blushed and fumbled with his words a bit; her approach had caught him off guard.

"U-u-uh sure, think nothing of it. Just helping out my fellow Guardians and stuff…"

"Oh sorry, I'm being rude with my helmet still on and what not."

The Hunter placed both hands beneath her helmet and lifted it gently off her head. Locks of blonde hair tumbled out from the sides and when the sunlight hit her bright green eyes they showed like emeralds; emeralds the likes of which no mortal man had ever seen. Jewels crafted by God's own hand. Her lips were soft pink, her skin pale and clear as porcelain. To Alexander she was the reincarnation of Aphrodite or Eve; she replaced his definition of the word beauty with her own portrait. He saw this moment frame by frame as if he were analyzing it in a slow motion replay.

Then it hit him, a chord was struck in the back of his mind, deep in the recesses of his past self. His chest tightened and his heart raced like it would jump from its cavity and onto the pavement. Warm tears streamed down his face uncontrollably, though he was not sobbing. In truth he had no idea what was happening, he had experienced nothing like this since he had been brought back to life and he wasn't very fond of it. It was almost like the adrenaline rush of the first shots fired during combat but not as fun, more pain than ecstasy. Julia tilted her head in confusion. The grown man whom she had just met began to cry. A battle-hardened Titan, crying? In front of anyone, let alone a female Guardian whom he had just rescued?

"Uh are you okay?"

Alexander snapped from his trance but his body was still reacting without his consent and all the willpower he could muster was unable to fight it off.

"This has never happened to me before. I don't fully understand what's going on here…"

The Hunter reached out her hand and chuckled lightly.

"It's alright; my name is Julia, by the way."

Alex's pupils dilated as his heart tightened to the point that it caused him to audibly exclaim in pain. The Titan fell to his knees and clutched at his chest. His hands trembled as visions of this woman flooded into his mind. Places he had never seen before, moments he could not remember. Vague visions of the past but nothing solid enough from him to grasp and put together a memory. Extreme pain, the kind of pain that was emotional but was so powerful that your body felt it. The kind of sorrow you only feel once in a lifetime, the kind that follows you in everything you see and every place you go; always in the back of your mind influencing every thought and action. Sorrow that caused you to subconsciously relive a moment that you cannot come back from. A moment that broke your very soul. Pain that transcended death and rebirth. The woman reached out to help him and his body instinctively jumped back from her, his hands still clutching at his chest. Jeeves was buzzing around the man and the influx of indistinguishable vital signs and brain waves flooded his sensors. No Ghost had ever taken a reading such as this and his circuits could not comprehend it.

Guardians had stopped their errands and began to watch the spectacle as did the shop vendors. Those revived by the Traveler's Light were known for having intense moments where they could recall extreme detail of an event from their past life that had been forever etched into their brain. It was very rare that an event had an effect such as this, very few Guardians couldn't handle things that had happened in their past. As Alexander stumbled backwards from the bewildered woman he began to mumble between his hyperventilating. He shook his head violently side to side.

"I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't I can't…"

Over and over again, a thousand times, he didn't even fully understand what it was that he couldn't do but his body knew that he had to get away. If our reactions are affected by our fight or flight instinct his was telling him to run; run as far away as he could as fast as he humanly could. His mumbles turned to whispers and he jumped when his back ran into Jeeves. The Ghost flew up to his ear and attempted to bring his mind back from whatever dark crevasse it had descended to.

"Alexander we're making a scene, we need to return to the ship."

Alex turned to look the Ghost in its singular lens.

"Jeeves I can't, I can't…"

"Alexander, what can't you do?"

This question rang in Alexander's ears for a moment as his mind searched for an answer. One word came to the front of all the emotions that were assaulting him.

"Protect…"

His body began to slow down as his composure came back and he noticed everyone that was watching him like he was insane. He sprinted back to his ship and quickly fled from the Tower. He had no idea what had come over him but it would definitely be a while before he could show his face around the Tower and he hoped he would never run into that woman again.

His ship was landed on a cliff overlooking the ocean; a bright ball of fire was setting on the horizon. He sat on the hull of the ship and watched the scene intently. His headphones poured music into the Guardian's broken mind. He looked downward and sang softly into his knees which were compressed against his chest and wrapped up by his arms.

"Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow. And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take; when people run in circles it's a very, very… Mad world… Mad world…"

Jeeves watched the man silently from afar and analyzed his behavior closely. He did not know if his friend would ever recover from the breakdown he had just experienced. Sparse time was allotted for emotions while you were fighting a war, Alexander was no exception. He had been chosen for a reason, his purpose was not yet fulfilled.