Thanks for the reviews: Goddess of Destiny,
That crazy-ass moment when your mate in Sydney tells you that the Chinese Gardens are closed for the filming of 'The Wolverine', and you're stuck in another country... my life.

Chapter 3: Dead-Zone Fight

"You wanna be the one in control
You wanna be the one who's alive
You wanna be the one who gets old
It's not a matter of luck, it's just a matter of time."
~30 Seconds to Mars, 'Edge of the Earth'

Jacinda felt her eyes widen, "Kieran, what are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you, you've been making me awful nervous of late, Jace," he said; stepping further into the room, and closing the door behind him.

"Since you asked so nicely, yes, you are interrupting," Remy put in; moving closer to slide an arm around Jacinda's waist before she knew what was happening, "So you can go now."

She saw Kieran tense up the moment Remy's arm touched her, and felt the fear inside of her grow. For someone who'd never met Kieran before, Remy had just picked the perfect way to get under his skin. This was going to get ugly, fast.

Gritting her teeth with effort, she forced the flirty personality up again, and turned a smile in Kieran's direction. It was a weak shot, but she was clutching at whatever straws she could find, no matter how thin they were. If she could just get Kieran to move away from the door...

"Kieran, I'm a big girl now, and I thought we agreed that you wouldn't check up on me," she said sweetly; it was worth a play if she could make him think that she was still working on Remy.

He folded his arms across his chest and levelled a stare at her, "Maybe I just wasn't all the comfortable with the extra mile you took this time."

She winced, but made it disappear from her face as soon as she could. He was talking about kissing Remy, not something that was normally in her job description. To be quite frank, she hadn't planned on it either, but the fool man hadn't given much sigh of listening to her, so she'd had to think up some way to talk to him straight. She didn't even want to think about his all too enthusiastic response, that was not going to help her clear her head right now.

"Charming as your little conversation is," Remy drawled, "I think that we have somewhere to be, don't we, little darling?"

Jace turned from Kieran to look up at him, and for all the calmness in his tone, Remy's eyes were dead serious as they gazed into her. He was planning something. Jacinda had thought that he'd unintentionally wound Kieran up by coming into contact with her, but Remy was more observant than she'd suspected. Looking back at Kieran, the anger in his eyes was slowly bubbling over, and she knew a fight was seconds away from ensuing.

But Remy didn't know, he didn't know Kieran's power.

"Wait-"

"Hold onto my hat, little darling, I'm fond of it," he cut her off.

After that, several things happened very quickly. Kieran surged forwards without warning, making for Remy, and Jacinda found herself suddenly staring at his dark leather duster, having been forcefully thrust behind his back. In a flash, he had swept the deck of cards out from his pocket and was sending them in Kieran's direction, glowing pink with the energy he'd charged them with. But they did nothing to stop Kieran, when they came within a metre of him, the cards simply dropped to the floor. They lost all charge and energy, becoming a simple deck once more.

"The hell!?"

Remy had moments to collect himself, before Kieran collided with him. Remy had the advantage of his staff, but he was unable to charge it with any kind of force to then hit Kieran with. Jacinda backed away from the fight, she knew that Kieran was strong, but she didn't know how strong Remy was.

"You could've warned me!" he shouted; ducking a punch form Kieran.

"I tried to!" she exclaimed.

That was Kieran's power, there was a reason that people had started calling him Dead-Zone. No matter what your mutations was, within a metre or so radius of Kieran, it became useless. Even hers.

Remy grunted in response, but not really more than that, he was too focused on keeping Kieran at bay. The fight was going on furiously, Remy's staff a whirl, and Kieran moving faster than she'd seen him. He must have been doing extra training, she didn't remember him being this good, or maybe that was just because he was angry. She hated standing here, feeling like she was doing nothing, but she didn't want to just wade into the fight and get in the way until she knew a way in.

Eventually, Kieran managed to get in a punch that knocked Remy flying, and Jacinda darted up to him, putting a hand on his chest before he could stalk towards Remy.

"Kieran, stop!"

"Why?" he paid her barely any mind, "You know the process, Jacinda. I'd have thought your last attempt to change things would have taught you not to question the order."

"Would you calm down, for one minute?" she demanded, "Kieran, you're acting insane."

"I second that," Remy put in; on his feet again, and watching Kieran wearily.

A frown flashed across Kieran's face, and his blue eyes narrowed, "You two seem to be almost working together...Jacinda, what have you done?"

Before she could reply, Remy beat her to it with a mocking laugh, "Oh, lots of things."

Jacinda shot him a warning glare, and returned her attention to Kieran before he could barge past her, "Stop! Do you have any idea how much of a ruckus you two fighting up here is going to cause?"

"I've fought tougher just a couple blocks from here," Remy said conversationally, "Much tougher, this is like a stroll in the park."

Men. They couldn't help themselves. Jacinda was once against shoved aside, this time a lot more roughly, and she stumbled, falling to the ground.

Remy made a tutting sound, "Knocking a girl over, how inconsiderate."

He knelt down, as she'd sprawled near him, and offered her a hand, "You alright, little darling."

"Keep your hands off her," Kieran ground out.

Remy moved away from her, and stepped forward to catch Kieran's fist before it could strike him in the face. He tossed his staff in her direction, and did the same with the next blow from Kieran. Jacinda's reflexes weren't fast enough to catch the slim metal pole, she was too focused on the power struggle now going on between the men, as each tried to gain more leverage on the other. Kieran trying to push forwards and strike Remy, Remy holding him back and trying to dislodge his footing.

"Little darling," Remy's voice was only slightly strained from his efforts, "Now would be a good time for you to head on down, I'll meet you in a few."

"Jacinda, don't you dare move!" Kieran barked; his voice sounding more forced than Remy's.

She wasn't sure what to do, she couldn't fight Kieran, it was simply stronger than her, and Remy seemed to be able to hold him off. But she didn't want to just abandon him. She hesitated.

"Go," Remy said; his tone more commanding than she'd ever heard it, "Take my staff."

She picked the slim rod of cool metal up from the ground, and began to make her way towards the door.

"Jacinda!"

Kieran tried to break free to hold her back, but Remy's grip on his fists tightened, as Jacinda slipped out of the door. A grim expression settled on his features.

"So, just you and me now," he said; locking eyes with Kieran.

Blazing anger stared back at him, "Not for long."

Remy knew he would win this fight, it was just a matter of how long it would take. The other man was clearly not in control, letting his anger fight for him, and that would be his downfall. He grunted slightly, as Kieran tried to exert more strength. It may be his downfall, but until that time, it damn well gave him more strength.

"How much did she tell you?" Kieran asked.

"Not much, and none of your business," he replied.

"You can't trust her, you know, she'll only use you."

Remy didn't deign to respond to this, he'd been saving up a reserve of strength, and he used it now. With a great wrench, he twisted Kieran to the side, and tossed the other man away. Kieran landed hard on the ground, and in the couple of seconds that it took him to get his bearings, Remy was on him in a flash. One quick blow to the head and Kieran went under with a low groan.

"Right then," Remy tugged his duster straight.

Crouching by Kieran's now unconscious body, he deftly searched all of his pockets. Remy was a little surprised, no weapon of any kind, the man must think that he could take on whatever foe came his way with only his bare hands. Well, he was strong, Remy himself could attest to that. Still, he found a wallet with several hundred dollars in cash.

"Thank you kindly," he spoke to the other man as he pocketed the money.

He nearly tossed the wallet down next to the body, but something caught his eye, and he flicked it open again. The corner of a picture was showing, curious, Remy pulled it out.

"That's interesting..." he mused; and the picture followed the money into his pockets.

He made his was back down to the bar casually, hopefully no one would wonder about the missing stranger for a while, and by then he and the girl could be long gone. She herself was standing with her back flat against the wall, none of her former confidence on display, and she seemed quite anxious in fact. His staff was tightly clenched in her fist, and her eyes were staring at the staircase so intently, he wondered that she didn't bore a hole through it. When she saw it was him though, she relaxed almost instantly, he'd guess that maybe 60% of the tension left her, but the rest remained in the weary look in her eyes.

"Thanks for holding onto those, little darling," he greeted; plucking the hat from her head, and depositing it onto his own. As he went to take the staff back off her, his hand rested over hers for a brief moment, and he almost chuckled at the speed with which she withdrew her hand. She certainly was a far cry from the girl who'd walked in a kissed him.

"Is he...?" her eyes flitted to the stairs once again.

A wry smirk twisted his lips, "Think I'd kill him?"

"I don't know," she replied; quite honestly.

"Having seconds thoughts?" he inquired; leaning closer, "Worried I'll kill you in your sleep?"

He watched her eyes closely, as she pushed aside a flash of fear, and stared right back at him, "Is there are reason to your attempted menacing?"

"Shh," he tapped a finger against her lips, "Not so loud, we're meant to be a happy one-night couple."

That comment did get him a glare, and he was beginning to see what kinds of things would get that effect out of her.

"Just tell me what happened," she near hissed.

"I'll tell you all about it, later," he replied; draping an arm around her shoulders, "In the meantime, we need to move away from here. Think you can manage some more of that girl I first met?"

It was startling. In a moment she went from seemingly nervous around him, as well as angry as his antics, to having a smile curve her mouth as she slipped an arm around his waist.

"Did you have any place in mind?" she inquired.

Remy arched his eyebrows sceptically, she was certainly a fast act to try and follow. That flirting tone was back, but he knew what she was really asking, though he certainly didn't mind the rest of the world thinking something else was being inquired about.

"Don't you worry, little darling, I have just the place," he assured; leading her from the bar, to the numerous whistles from other patrons.

Silently, he bid farewell to the city once more. He didn't know how long he'd be on the run for this time, but he knew he'd come back home when it was all over. As he thought that, a shiver ran through his nerves, and he had the suspicion that things might not be over as quickly as he'd thought. Looking down at the slight girl tucked against his side, Remy wondered just how much trouble she'd brought into his life.