After a few moments of rearranging his racing thoughts, Sam returned.

"Nothing like a good old fight to get some stress out of your system, huh, menino bonito?" He swiftly whipped his sword to get the blood and electrolyte substance off of it before he picked up the sheath from behind the bike and sheathed the blade. "Aren't you glad I brought my sword now?"

Raiden sheathed his sword. "You said you were unarmed," he mock snarled.

"I thought you would attack me," Sam raised his hands in a shrug, "any man would want to protect himself if he was being attacked by the infamous Raiden." He joked, making Raiden crack a genuine smile. He looked at the expression with fondness and found himself feeling more relaxed than he had in years.

"Thank you, Sam… for your help." It was sincere. Sam looked slightly shocked at the thanks. It was as if in these last few minutes, some of Raiden's walls had come down. He felt… honoured.

"No sweat, Raiden" he tried to brush it off in his cocky way, but he knew that they'd become closer through the fighting and the conversation. He could feel it.

And Raiden could too. It was nice for him, to be able to find a friend that he could confide in fully. He hadn't really had one since… Raiden looked away, lost in his thoughts, his brow furrowed. He was broken out of his memories when he felt Sam's fingers in between his brows. "You know, pretty boy, you'll get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that." This made Raiden laugh. A full blown hearty full bellied laugh. Again, something that he hadn't done in quite a while. The laughter spread, Sam now chuckling along with Raiden. And they both just stood there for a while, in the middle of the street, laughing with one another as the rain let up.

The sound of high pitched sirens broke them from their laughter. Sam, a panicked expression on his face, looked around to try and discern where the sound was coming from. "They're going to surround the area," Raiden growled, making Sam's hand twitch and reach for his blade. "No, I don't want to see any more deaths today. Where are you living right now?" His speech was fast, his eyes darting, time was not on their side. He moved quickly to the driver's side of his car.

"I've got a room in the hotel."

"Not good enough. They're gonna scan the area for cyborg life signs, and that's gonna make you their number one suspect," he opened the door of the car and slid in. "Get in," he ordered.

Sam didn't have to ask twice. He ran to the other side and got in the car. "Aren't they going to suspect someone driving out of the area?" He was right. A sleek black car being driven by two cyborgs wasn't exactly the least suspicious thing.

"We'll just have to hope that they're not that clever," was Raiden's only reply. He started the car, and they pulled away slowly. Raiden's visor came down and Sam knew he was scanning the surrounding area for a way out. His motions were so fluid and quick it wasn't long before he'd managed to calculate a route and enlarge it onto a screen in front of them. Raiden flipped the visor back up again and began to follow the red dotted line on the blue map. His timings were perfect, every turn he took was either just after a car moved out of the way, or just before one came into their line of sight. It was so calculated, so clean that Sam could hardly believe it. His driving was slow, so as to not seem suspicious, as if they weren't running from the scene. They drove in tense silence, Raiden's eyes flickering everywhere as if he were making decisions and calculating what to do next every second. He took side roads and alleyways, stopping every now and then to let a police car go speeding past them before pulling out and going in another direction.

Soon enough the red dotted line disappeared on the map and, with a flick of his wrist, Raiden closed it. He relaxed his hands on the steering wheel and leant back into his seat, letting go of the breath he didn't know he was holding. Sam also relaxed, looking over to Raiden for a second to just watch his jaw unclench. His eyes returned to the road before he spoke. "That was a close call." Raiden hummed in agreement. "You've got some skills, blondie."

At this Raiden smirked. "It's amazing what you can do when you're cybernetically enhanced to the extent that I am," his eyes flicked over to Sam.

"You have to take some credit for it, pretty boy," Sam turned to give him a cheeky grin.

"Don't call me that," was Raiden's slightly snarky remark, his mouth twitching in amusement. Sam's eyes and mouth softened into a smile and he turned to look out of his window at the passing city. "And don't think for a second I don't know you're calling me that in Portugese, too." Sam chuckled and Raiden couldn't help but breathe out a laugh.

The rest of the ride was quiet, the only conversation passing between them was about the city and buildings, idle chit chat.

It was nearly 5 am when Raiden slowed to a stop and Sam watched as he elegantly got out of the car. He turned to look back in at Sam. "Are you getting out or would you rather stay in the car all night?" Raiden took a moment to enjoy the look of amused confusion on Sam's face before he turned to walk away. Sam got out of the car and started following Raiden.

"And where are we, exactly?"

"My place," Raiden said as he opened the door to the apartment complex. They walked to the elevator and stood waiting for it in silence. Raiden began to feel a little uncomfortable. He didn't really know why. Maybe it was because he was actually letting someone come into his place, something that he hadn't done in a long time. He'd certainly not done it since moving to Colorado, and he'd been here for a good while now. The elevator dinged, the doors opened and they got in. Raiden pressed the number 4.

Sam whistled. "This is one fancy place you've got here pretty b-" Raiden glared at him, "-Raiden." Sam leaned against the side of the elevator, taking in the polished view of it.

"Thanks," was all he could say in response. The elevator ride was short but silent. Raiden felt awkward, Sam felt relaxed and in awe. The elevator reached floor 4 with a ding and Sam looked out into the hallway with wide eyes. There were four doors in the vast hallway, two on each side, each a good distance from the other. At the other end of the hallway was a wall length mirror in which he could see both himself and Raiden. There were many potted plants and ornate decorations in black and gold. The wallpaper was timid but beautiful none the less, swirls of black and gold on a subdued cream background. Even the lights weren't just lights, two large chandeliers lit their way.

"Are you coming or are you just going to gawk at the décor all night?" Sam hadn't even realised that Raiden was no longer at his side but on the other side of the hallway, key in hand, door open. Sam caught up. On his right he passed 401, and on his left he passed 403 and 404, which meant...

Sam stopped at the harsh contrast of Raiden's apartment. He looked in to see an open plan living room and kitchen. It was practically bare. Everything was monochromatic and there were no ornate decorations anywhere in sight. There wasn't one thing in the large room that wasn't completely necessary. Raiden made his way into the kitchen but turned in confusion when Sam wouldn't even step through the door. "Are you ok?" He asked, eyebrows lowering in concern. Raiden was even more nervous now. He was never one for letting anyone in to his personal spaces, it never ended very well. He placed his sword on a kitchen surface and began walking towards Sam. "Sam?"

Sam blinked. "I'm fine, Raiden. Sorry, I was just… admiring the view." Across the other side of the room was a huge, nearly wall length window that looked out onto the city lights below and the near purple glow that came with the twilight. He moved toward it, thanking it for giving him an excuse for his pause.

"Oh," was all that Raiden said, relaxing his shoulders. "Look," he started, rubbing his eyes. Sam turned. "I don't know about you but I'm tired. We can carry on our conversation tomorrow after we've both had some rest?" The infliction at the end of the sentence may have made it a question, but Sam knew it was more of a suggestion than anything. Raiden did look quite tired. And now that Sam came to think about it, he was too. "I'm afraid the only place I have for you to rest is the sofa. I've got some blankets if you'll need them… but I don't have any clothes that'll fit you so you're gonna have to sleep in your cyber suit," Raiden leant against the work surface in the kitchen.

Sam huffed and crossed his arms. "Wow, Raiden. You have got to be the worst host I have ever known," he said mockingly.

Raiden grinned, "You can always sleep in the car," he said gruffly, eyes shining mischievously.

"Now that's just cold," Sam pouted. Raiden hummed out a laugh, his face softening. He left the room then, and Sam tried to sneak a peek into Raiden's bedroom to see if it was as sparse as this room, but Raiden kept the door as closed as was possible. Moments later he returned with a couple of blankets and a pillow and placed them onto the black leather sofa.

"You'll probably want to put something over the leather," he said, straightening up to look at Sam who had suddenly gotten quite close. Raiden took a step back from both him and the sofa out of instinct. Sam eyed the pile of blankets intently before moving to pick one up. "The bathroom is that door there," Raiden gestured to the door near the kitchen, "and if you need a glass of water in the night the glasses are in the top left cupboard. Don't worry about being woken up by me needing the bathroom, I have an en suite, and besides, I don't use it often" he relayed monotonously. Sam was only half paying attention, busying himself setting up the sofa for the night. "And Sam…" Raiden began. Sam turned his head to look at the man behind him. Raiden looked down at something that he had in his hands and Sam's eyes followed. Sam dropped the blanket in his hands. There, lying comfortably in Raiden's grip, was his Murasama blade in its sheath, as good as it ever was. "Here…" Sam's eyes widened in shock and Raiden shifted uncomfortably, a raw feeling in his throat.

"I can't believe you actually kept it, sheath and all," Sam said, still staring at the object with admiration.

Raiden's grip twitched around the sheath, "After it helped me beat Armstrong, I didn't want to just throw it away… but I didn't want to use it either… out of respect," Raiden nearly whispered. His head was low, but his eyes were looking up at Sam who hadn't yet taken his eyes off of the sword.

Sam turned slowly and carefully reached for it, his fingers brushing ever so lightly over Raiden's palms as he gently picked up his prized possession. He partially unsheathed it, and Raiden saw his face light up with childish wonderment as his eyes scanned over it. Raiden smiled as Sam's eyes danced over his blade. "You killed Armstrong with this?" He breathed.

Raiden cocked his head to the side. "Yes."

"So what you're saying here is I actually did save America," Sam said cockily. Raiden snorted and looked at Sam's arrogant grin. His upper lip twitched and he walked off to his bedroom door. But before he could open it, "Raiden," Sam spoke. He turned, crossing his arms in mock annoyance at being stopped. "Thank you," Sam said sincerely. Raiden was taken aback slightly by the man's seriousness and he swallowed.

After a moment of hesitation he flicked his hand nonchalantly and turned to open his bedroom to go inside. With a slight creak and a click of the door, he was on the other side, back pressed against the door, eyes staring at his hands which were still tingling from Sam's light touch. He furrowed his brow and clenched his fists.

This wasn't good.

He sighed, took off the outer parts of his armour and got into bed, opting not to get into his skin because he hated other people seeing him in it. He closed his eyes and hoped that he'd get at least a few hours of decent sleep.

He didn't.