Woo, back to updating regularly.
Are you proud? I am.
Enjoy.

Cristof sat curled up on the floor, leaning back against the bed. He didn't have the energy to climb up into the bed and wasn't even sure if he wanted to anymore. False comfort was an unfair price to pay. He'd thrown up again but it wasn't doing him any good now, in fact it really only made him feel worse. It took most of his strength to get up onto his knees and he knew leaving the room the way he wanted would be a bad idea. As much as he wanted Ezra, he wouldn't dare drag him into this.

"Now that that's all cleaned up, lets get you back into bed huh?" Beth offered as she entered the room.

"Lets not. I don't want you touching me." Cristof muttered, laying his head on his knee. "No touching me ever."

"Cris, I know you're not feeling well but don't be hostile. It isn't my fault." Beth sighed.

Cristof gave her a disbelieving look. "We both know that it is. The difference is that one of us is in denial about it."

"Now that's silly." she gave him a look, "Come on, you need to lay down."

"No." he said stubbornly, noticing she didn't make a move towards him.

"We're not going to debate this Cris, you cannot sit here on the floor." she shook her head, finally stepping toward him, though with a bit of nervousness it seemed, and reaching to grab his arm.

"No touch!" he said loudly, jerking his arm away from her. "I'll sit where I want, even a hospital allowed me that! Dictator! Leave me be and stop drugging me! Leave me be! I'll sit where I want to sit!"

She blinked at him, a small frown forming on her lips; "Well that was rude."

"Dictator." he repeated, tracing pattered in the carpet with his fingers. "Liar, cheater, filled with a gentle loathing that creeps amongst the grass as a silent predator."

"You're babbling," she sighed, "And you need to lie down."

"I need many things. I need to not starve." Cristof muttered, slumping against the side table that was next to the bed.

"You're not gonna starve." she huffed, "I feed you plenty and you keep at least half of it down."

"Then stop drugging it. I won't eat any more. None! No, No, No. Not until I see you eat from the plate." Cristof said. "No more. I won't do it."

"Well then." she picked an imaginary piece of lint off her sleeve, "We'll just have to reconsider the dosing method. Injections maybe."

"You are a nurse." he all but groaned. "Lies upon lies."

"I am not a nurse, but my brother happens to be a psychiatrist." she shrugged, "Maybe it'll even lessen the side effects if it isn't going through your digestive track."

"You poison me!" He said loudly, "I won't take more! Cunning snake seeking a small bounty and stealing a feast. Reaper."

She chucked this time, "You're babbling again. If you won't take it then it'll have to be injections."

"You won't." he said, looking uncertain as fear entered his misdirected gaze. "You don't know what's in me already. Overdosing could kill me and my corpse is useless."

"Your withdrawal was over days ago, whatever you were on is out of your system. All that's in you now is our little cocktail and it's well measured." She shook her head.

"Liar, seducer, reaper." Cristof said softly. "Terrorizer, monster doing the deeds of those who secure the luxuries you wouldn't otherwise have."

She stared at him; "You are odd. I'll bring you the pill tomorrow. You can either take it, or I'll have the needle waiting."

"No needles." he stared back at her harshly. "I'm no use to you dead, and I know things about you now. You're walls talk louder then you're words. No needles. No needles and no Ezra."

"Then take the pills." she shrugged.

"Stop talking to Ezra." He frowned.

"You take the pills, and I'll only talk to him if he calls me." She smiled.

Cristof actually glared. "Sever your ties. The bounty on my head is bigger then the one you were blindly sent after."

"Well I can't just stop answering. I'm not stupid. He'll come and take you from me and I cant have that." she mused.

"Sever your ties." Cristof repeated. "This no longer concerns Ezra. Ezra is busy on Ezra's own."

"If he calls me I will answer, otherwise consider it done." she said, "Take it or leave it."

"Witch," he said simply, tracing his fingers over the carpet again.

"I'll bring your pills tomorrow then." she smiled pleasantly.

"Skeletons in the closet keep a person bold. Flashiness hides the darkness." Cristof muttered. "And it's blinding here."

"You're a little odd did you know that?"

"Says the witch." Cris muttered.

"You shouldn't say hurtful things."

"You shouldn't do hurtful things." he sighed. "You are a bad person."

"I am not a bad person, I'm sorry you see it that way." she sighed.

"You drug me. That's bad. You use Ezra, that's bad. You're bad." Cristof said, staring at one spot on the wall. He was refusing to look at her anymore.

"I like Ezra a lot but this is unfortunately more important than a relationship that hasn't even started yet." she shrugged.

"You lie." he said simply.

"I did not lie but you'll believe what you want anyway." she chuckled.

"Because I know." Cristof gave her a cold look. "You do things for yourself and no one else. Liar. Cheater. You selfish witch."

"And I like him for myself, I knew him before I knew you." she pointed out, "Before I knew of you."

"You were after the bounty on his head and found one with a better price. It's all the same difference. Deceiving is deceiving." Cristof shook his head, feeling the bile rise in this throat.

"You're delusional," she said.

Cristof shook his head. "Witch, you know your a pawn and turn a blind eye to it."

She sighed tiredly. "If you want to think so then fine, I'll bring the pills in the morning."

"You will leave me be." He muttered softly, laying his head on his knee and closing his eyes to suppress the urge to vomit.

"So long as you take them I won't have to give you injections." Beth said instead of responding directly as she turned to walk out of the room.

"Witch!" he yelled, having no other way to retaliate.

Beth walked out of the room with a sigh and made her way down stairs. It was enough distance between her and Cristof and he wasn't going to be moving much any time soon. Grabbing her phone she dialed the one person she'd been in contact with as of late. She never would have imagined having such difficulties with the man in her guestroom.

The phone rang unanswered a few times before it was picked up and she was greeted with "Dunbar speaking."

"Always a kick to hear you so formal." Beth mused, falling back on her living room couch.

"Happens when I don't have time to look at the I.D. display." he chuckled good-naturedly, "How's our patient?"

"Pissing me off." she sighed softly. "He's gone from being amusingly cute to suspiciously stubborn and difficult."

"Well he was bound to notice something was in his system. With the side effects we can't give him enough for him to be subdued and I can't manage anything else at the moment."

"Doesn't help that he's probably throwing most of it up. It's hard to tell if he's doing it himself or if he really can't handle it." Beth mused. "On the other hand he's terrified of needles and that's helpful."

"He probably can't help it." he sighed, "Bad side effects with that brand, but that is helpful."

"Downside, he doesn't want me near his brother anymore. Gave me a real cold look. I was a little afraid he'd start trying to hurt himself if I didn't agree. It's not his normal behavior but I think he'd do it if he thought he was protecting his brother."

"Hm, they're not stable." he agreed to an extent, "Just be careful, I'm going to try to get you something better for him."

"Would definitely appreciate it. I don't know how good an actor he is. I'd say he's pretty sluggish and miserable now but he did get away from Blaren's Psychiatric." Beth sighed. "You're sure this guy is worth all the trouble? He only seems to speak in riddles."

"That just makes me want to talk to him more." he chuckled.

"Be my guest." She scoffed. "I don't know what he's saying half the time, but I'm pretty sure I should be pissed off about it."

"Plenty of them have their insults. It's the fact that he doesn't actually have a disorder that makes it interesting." he mused.

"Hey, you wanna come talk to him. By all means. I could use a break from him. I didn't sign up to be his nanny. He's like a kid. His favorite word is no." She complained.

He laughed, "You didn't spend long enough here."

Beth sighed. "For just that reason."

"I'm sorry Beth." he said, still sounding overly amused, "I will really try to get you something better. Codeine if I have to."

"Perfect. When are you gonna come see the little weirdo? Or are you waiting for something?" Beth sighed.

"I'm waiting for some of the attention to get off his brother, it might bounce back onto you." he mused.

"It's okay. He hasn't mentioned having any more trouble again. Police don't seem so interested anymore." Beth mused. "Guess they didn't find a body so they're not worried."

"Hm." he muttered, "Alright, I'll try to drive down by the end of the week."

"Thank you." She sighed. "I'm telling you, he plays the adorable card good until hell flies into him. I'm gonna have to start locking that door or something just as a little insurance."

"You might have to take more measures than that if he escaped Blaren's Psychiatric."

"Looking like it." She sighed. "It's annoying. I am doing this for you, you know? Only because you're my brother."

"I appreciate it." he agreed simply.

She rubbed her brow slowly. "Why is this kid such a prize? I don't get it."

"Has he...known anything unusual?" he asked after a considerable pause of considering what to tell her, "Something he shouldn't?"

"He's called me a witch a couple times." She chuckled.

"That's more name calling." he said.

She sighed, thinking. "I dunno, he babbles all the time. But..." she paused. "He did very suddenly want me to stay away from Ezra. Called me a snake after a bounty."

"Is that a truth he shouldn't know? Pay attention to the question Beth." he chuckled.

"Bite me, okay. I'm the one that's been babysitting a grown man. He babbles stuff all the time, I'd go crazy too trying to figure out what he was walking about." She said, listening for a moment to make sure Cristof wasn't wandering around.

"Well then you'll never know why he's so special." he explained

"Don't be an ass." She grumbled, rubbing her head. "First one brother, now the other. What's the deal?"

"Like fishing. If you catch a lil one and a big one comes up and eats it, getting caught on the hook, clearly you're going to keep the big one. Ezra is small fry compared to what Cristof can do."

Beth sighed heavily. "I won't even ask again I guess. Ezra did pop up at midnight a couple days ago. Made me nervous as hell. Spent the night with Cristof."

"They know things." he explained. "Some more certainly than others."

"Don't you think that's information I needed. No wonders he's pissed. Jeez, it's like dealing with a whiny over grown child."

"Yes, he may well know what we're doing as well as well as future intentions."

"Well shit." She muttered. "That doesn't worry you?"

"That's what the medications are for." he pointed out, "They numb them to it.

"Can only hope so." Beth said. "I'll keep a closer eye on him then I guess but he's getting too damn snappy with me even doped up."

"Because anti-psychotics work best and all I've been able to get you is an anti-anxiety. It works too we've found, but not so well." he said softly.

"I don't even wanna know what you're doing over there anymore. How are you even gonna work this out? He can't have disappeared from one hospital only to pop up in another." Beth pointed out.

"No but he can be found and we can easily discredit a minor institution like the one he was in." the man said as if it were simple.

Beth laughed softly. "As long as you've thought it out, Whatever. I just need to make sure you think about these things. From a normal point of view and not one of a doctor."

"I have. We have dealt with these kinds of patients before. He wouldn't have gotten out had he been here in the first place." the man sighed.

"So why wasn't he. What if he doesn't exactly have any kind of illness, how can you pull that off?" She asked. "Isn't that kind of crap looked into?"

"Weren't you the one complaining about his babbling and childish behavior? Any board member would look at him and say yup, medicate him. Wouldn't have any idea what he had but they'd know he had something." the man chuckled.

"Whatever you say." she mused. "Just hope they don't pick a day to stop by when he decides to say something normal."

"All patients can have their normal moments, they'd monitor them for more than one moment. Don't worry so much." he mused.

"Fine. You can do all the worrying and hope I don't get arrested in the process."

"You won't, just relax" he promised.

"How very reassuring." she muttered.

"You know I'd take care of you, Beth," he said.

"I know. I'm sorry." she muttered. "Kids got me stressed out."

"I'll get you something soon, I promise. Okay?" he said a bit more softly, "I appreciate you doing this for me."

"I know that. He's probably asleep again now anyway. Don't have anything to worry about." She said.

"Well good, then I should probably get back to work" he mused.

"Yeah, sorry to keep bothering you." She muttered. "I'll talk to you soon..."

"Whenever you need," he said reassuringly, "Bye Beth."

"Bye." she muttered, hanging up. Only hoping this would was going to work they way they needed it too.

Thank you for reading, thank you all! Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Random A/N- woo, for everyone into my Alice in Wonderland fic, I have been hearing you're requests for a second…sequel one-shot, and I say...hell yeah. I'm working on it. Thanks for still showing the original fic your love (more so on fictionpress then fanfiction, but I digress…) it will be posted soon…I hope. Thanks.

Sadistprincess- awe, c'moon, just a little bit of a criminal…lol. You'll have time to judge Adia in good time, but you are…pretty close. I love the guessing. ^_^ and I know it seems frustraing but you gotta think of it from her point of view too. Hard to know what the right thing is. Reasons are not always what they seem, and then other times, they're spot on.

Cristof: I love cake! Ms. Writer, did you hear that. It's been a fortnight since I was offered cake and I enjoy it immensely!

*Blinks*…Cris dear, I think you're channeling Hatter from my Alice story.

Cristof: Reading makes me pretty…

….*chuckles*….not even gonna get into that one…

Chibi Cherry Blossoms-one of these days I'm gonna get myself a beta…damn grammar and spelling…it knows it's my enemy…anyway! Thanks for reading! As I've said before, just keep in mind that Cris adores Adia. He'll tell anyone so too. ^_^

SeasonsReasons- thanks for the read. Yeah, Ezra definitely isn't someone I would piss off. Most people know better but..eh…we'll see what happens.