*Sorry for any typos, I wrote this in about an hour and wanted to get another chapter up before bed. Thank you for your patience about my bad uploading schedule.*

We parked the car and walked up to the entrance of Tidus and saw the CEO waiting, his wife no where in sight. "Nice to see you again!" Warnell boomed, pulling me into a tight hug. I pulled away as soon as possible, not liking the contact.

"Where is Marcella?" I asked, stepping slightly behind Marcus, not feeling too comfortable.

"She wasn't feeling well." Warnell explained, leading us inside. "She decided to be dropped off at home, I hope you understand."

"Of course." Marcus said, staying in between myself and Warnell. "So where is the lab?"

Warnell chuckled. "It is going to take a little bit of a walk to get there. Although you two look young and healthy enough to make it." He then looked my body over, causing me to shiver slightly. "Although your shoes may cause some pain."

I laughed warm heartly. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

He looked as though he wanted to say something, but refrained from it. He wordlessly led the way down a long hallway. Just then I heard Wrench's voice come into my ear. "This guy is a creep. He's at least 65."

"Try 67." Sitara's voice joined his.

I heard Wrench groan with disgust. "Why do you attract creeps? Wait, what does that say about me…"

"Don't think too much about that," Sitara chuckled.

After that they went silent, allowing us to focus on the task at hand. We followed Me. Tidus down farther and father until we finally reached a elevator. We climbed inside and he swiped a card, causing it to descend instantly. I fell against Marcus who steadied me easily. "Sorry," I whispered.

He smiled reassuringly at me as Wrench's voice came through the earpiece, "What happened?" Neither of us could answer, which he realized moments later. "Nevermind." He grumbled.

We finally arrived at the ground floor, where I acted somewhat surprised. They had seemed to repair most of the damage done by a certain hacker, however some remnants remained as a painful reminder. "Here we are." Warnell said, leading us into a very open area. "This is where the SX-23 was kept, until it was destroyed. We've started construction on another, however it isn't operational yet."

"Now," Marcus said, causing the man to turn around. "What security is in place to make sure it doesn't get destroyed again?"

Warnell laughed darkly. "We have ramped up security ten fold."

Marcus pulled a face. "But I'd like to see it, to make sure our money isn't wasted. Can you show me your security headquarters?"

Warnell frowned, but nodded after a moment on internal deliberation. "Alright. Follow me, please." He led us down the large room and into a small hallway, then made a sharp left into a hidden room. We followed eagerly. The room was empty, obviously mostly autonomous, which meant Marcus would need more time cracking it.

I looked around as Marcus spoke wuth hun about the security measures. I saw a large cord and saw an opportunity. I walked over, pretending to look at a monitor when I tripped on it and crashed to the floor. I felt my ankle twist and fell to the ground, blood on my face, I cursed and felt someone help me to my feet. Turning, I saw Warnell holding my shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked, looking me over.

"My ankle hurts." I said, honestly, sitting in a chair, having Warnell look at it.

"You stay here, I'm going to grab the first aid kit." He said, then rushed out.

"Okay." I said, playing the damsel in distress. As soon as he left the room I looked up at Marcus, "Make it snappy."

Marcus began typing at the speed of light, not even picking on me for throwing myself to the floor. For a solid minute, all I heard was keystrokes, then I faintly heard heavy footsteps. "He's coming!" I stage-whispered. Marcus stood up and turned the monitor off, just as Warnell came back in.

"Here, I can dress it for you." He said, kneeling by me again.

"Do you mind if I look to the security systems myself?" Marcus asked. "I took a coding class a while back and am curious to see if I could make any sense of this."

Just then I raised my ankle, giving Warnell a peek up my skirt. Internally I vomited, however it had it's desired effect. "Sure." He said, very distracted. "Sure, do whatever you want."

Marcus got back to work, much slower this time. The old man began wrapping my ankle, and anytime he seemed to be going to fast, I'd move and cause him to apologize and go slower. Marcus finished typing after another minute or so, then came over to us. "You have a cut on your forehead." He pointed out. My hand flew to my face, feeling some dried blood.

"Thank you," I said to Marcus, then looked down at Warnell. "Thank you, too. That should suffice until we get home. He began to protest, but I stood. "Thank you for showing us around you large facility, but I think we should be going."

He stood and eyed us both. "Alright, not to be too blunt, but what about the check?"

"Of course!" Marcus laughed. "Can I drop it off tomorrow morning?"

Warnell frowned. "Is there any way you could write it now?"

Marcus frowned as well. "I don't have my checkbook on me."

Warnell wrapped an arm around my waist. "I'm sure Athena wouldn't mind waiting with me until you found your checkbook."

I had reached my limit. I reached up and soved my elbow into his nose, causing blood to spew from it. "Don't touch me ever again." I said. "And because of that, I don't think we will be investing in your company." I walked out, my head held high and I heard Marcus running after me. We stepped into the elevator, our time a Tidus was finally over.