Joshua awoke slowly from his slumber. When he sat up, he realized that Alice had already arisen.

"No!"

Joshua stood up, frightened. It was afternoon, and he had overslept from exhaustion. The Dead Horses that were sparring near him looked at him strangely as he jolted upright.

"Alice!" he called out, running into the cave.

He ran to the very back of the cave, where he found the young woman mixing chemicals. She turned her head and nearly dropped the test tube in her hand when she saw Joshua watching her.

"Oh!" she said, startled.

"Alice," he said, tensely, "You need to tell me where you go off to. I woke up terrified this morning, thinking you had been kidnapped again."

Alice sucked in her breath and set her face into a neutral expression, pushing up her glasses matter-of-factly and straightening her posture before speaking.

"You speak to me as if I was a child. And if I recall clearly, you said to only go to you when I wish to venture away from the camp."

Joshua cocked his head to the side, looking at her.

"Right, but that doesn't mean you can just-"

"Hold on, now, don't scold me. If you're wondering where I found these chemicals, I had Follows Chalk escort me around the canyon this morning so that I could find the elements in their natural states before tampering with them."

Joshua inhaled quickly, feeling frustrated.

"How could you let me sleep like that and not tell me anything?"

Alice narrowed her eyes.

"I'm an early riser, Joshua, and a late sleeper. I don't require as much sleep as most, mainly because I have insomnia and my mind is always active. I am always thinking, whether it be memorizing chemical compounds or particle trails as seen with antimatter, or the splitting of atoms and-"

"Alright." Joshua cut her off. "Just, please, don't leave my sight."

"Fine."

Alice turned back to her work and shrugged her shoulders, muttering something in Spanish that sounded to Joshua like insults. Joshua stood there, watching her. He stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder to have a better view of what she was doing.

"What is that you're doing?"

"Ah!"

Alice tensed up when she felt Joshua right behind her and spilled the liquid that was in the test tube she held, which was sulfuric acid, onto her hand. She dropped the test tube on the ground and clutched at her hand that now had a horrific burn.

"Alice!" Joshua said, grabbing her, concern showing in his eyes as he looked at her hand. The way her hand looked reminded him of when he first saw his fresh burns he received as a souvenir from shaming the Legion.

"This is your fault!" she said, shaking him off while stifling a scream of pain.

Those words left a hard and hurtful mark on Joshua's heart.

"Let me look at that!" he said, taking hold of her right hand.

"NO!"

"Alice, please. Quit struggling. I'm only trying to help."

Alice dropped to the floor, tears falling on her face. She held out her right hand, which now had bloody spots on it, to Joshua. He gingerly took hold of it and examined it.

"What were you doing with this liquid?"

Alice looked up at him with a weary expression.

"I was mixing chemicals. It was all I could do to take my mind off of things."

"Such as?"

"Oh, never mind." She shook him off.

"Alice..."

"What?" she asked, annoyed.

"Never mind. Let's get this cleaned up."

"Fine."

Alice tried standing up from off the ground, but instead, Joshua carried her with his two arms.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" Alice said, feeling flustered.

"It'll be faster if I carry you." he said, walking close to the entrance of the cave.

"But I don't want to be carried!"

Joshua ignored her and set her on the seat by his workbench. He ran to one of the storage pots and found a canister of Pre War ointment and some bandages before returning to Alice and kneeling in front of her to examine her hand.

"How bad does it hurt?" he asked her.

Alice by this time was gritting her teeth, trying not to scream. Joshua opened the canister and applied the ointment on the burn. Alice tensed up when it came in contact with her skin.

"Horrible would be an understatement."

"There now, it's okay. I'm sorry this happened, Alice."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. If I hadn't startled you, then you wouldn't be..."

"Enough. There have been worse accidents in the lab." she said.

"Really? Like what?"

Alice went quiet. She didn't want to tell him of the times she had test subjects die on her.

"You don't wish to tell me?"

Alice shook her head. Joshua sighed while turning her small, bandaged hand over in his hands. No matter what he did, he always seemed to mess things up, like with Alice's hand. How was she supposed to trust him if he didn't trust her? Let alone hurt her?

"Alice," Joshua said.

Alice looked up, her expression emotionless.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry, for not trusting you."

"What do you mean?"

"For, well, for being paranoid like that with you going places without me."

"It's alright."

"I need to learn to trust you, though. I know you can't quite harm me even if you wanted, but in order for me to trust you, I need you to trust me. And that means us getting to know one another on a personal level, starting now."

Alice went whiter than her skin tone.

"Why?"

"You heard me. How do you expect us to trust one another if we don't know much about the other? For all I know, you could be plotting to kill me in my sleep."

"No I'm not!" Alice said.

"Well how do I know you're lying?"

"I'm a terrible liar."

Joshua looked at her, annoyed.

"I'm sorry." Alice whispered. "I'm not used to people like you, people who are kind. Genuinely kind. People who care to help, regardless of my background, or appearance, or attitude. I, I have never had that. Ever. It's new to me, and I'm sorry that I have come off as irate and inconsiderate and pompous."

"It's fine, Alice."

Alice looked at Joshua and met his eyes. She could see an intensity of swirling emotions in the blue depths of his eyes. Alice subconsciously shifted forward in her seat and placed a hand over his, holding it. Even though she hated close contact in general, it never mattered to her when she was concerned for the well being of other people as she made their comfort a priority over her own comfort. He squeezed her hand back before getting up from the ground and seated himself to her left on the bench.

"As much as I want to trust you, I'm letting you know that it will take me some time before I fully become comfortable around you. I don't open up well with people."

"And that's fine, Alice."

"As for why I was tampering with chemicals, it's a long story. I don't know that I want to say the details quite yet."

"That's alright. I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to. But let me ask you one thing, Alice."

"Yes?"

"Can I trust you to defend yourself, if say, I weren't around?"

"I suppose. I'm not one who likes to fight."

"That's a good quality, being peaceful and non violent. If only I myself were, not so, well, bloodthirsty in instances where I have to exterminate someone."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore like any other." he said shortly.

Alice went quiet, contemplating the meaning of his words. She decided to change the subject to a less dark topic.

"Joshua, would it be okay with you if, say, I were to go for a walk every now and then some time?"

"I suppose not. I do have scouts around this area. I'll just ask them to keep watch of you when you walk away from the camp."

"Alright, thanks."

Joshua got up and walked towards the entrance of the cave. He turned back to face Alice, meeting her eyes with his own. Each time he looked in her eyes, he sensed a natural kindness in her. Though it seemed that she carried herself with an air of nonchalance, he knew she was capable of feeling real emotions, especially when she showed concern for him and his injuries. Perhaps she despised to admit that she had a heart after all. Scientists were such complex people.

"Would you like to come eat? There is food on the spit."

Alice nodded and joined him, walking with him to the spit outside. She sat down near a log and noticed Joshua's bible was by the log. Cautiously, she picked up the bible and then opened the front of the bible. She flipped through a few pages before putting it back down. Joshua looked over at her while grabbing two steaks off the spit, observing her curiously. He then sat down a few feet away from where she was leaning against the log.

"Did my bible not interest you?" he asked her.

Alice looked up, confused.

"Not quite. It may be of a different religion, but nonetheless has the same kinds of messages. You see, I believe bibles have good messages, but people are like sheep and go by them too often to the point where they can't think for themselves and decide things in groups as opposed to making decisions individually."

"I see." he said.

"The reason I was messing with chemicals..." Alice said, "Was, to, cope with grief."

"Grief?"

"Yes."

"What kind of grief?" Joshua asked her.

"Oh, never mind."

Joshua handed her a steak and sat closer to her.

"Tell me all about it."

Alice looked at him, pain evident in her eyes. She began to poke at the steak with her finger.

"I..."

"You don't feel comfortable, that's fine. No need to push yourself. Just relax. You're safe."

Joshua placed an arm around her reassuringly. She tensed up, jolting at his touch.

"Oh, right. Sorry.

Joshua dropped his arm and went to eating his steak.

"It's okay."

Alice looked up at the sky and noticed clouds coming in from all sides. Rain, she thought. How lovely. Unbeknownst to her, Joshua was observing her every move, from her expression in her face, to where her eyes moved, and how she seated herself. He was wondering what she was thinking.

"I like it here. I never thought I would like this, since I am so used to living in more, populated and civilized settlements."

"Thank you." Joshua said.

Alice thought of her sister April and wondered how she was faring in the Legion settlement. She hoped her sister was still alive somehow. For some reason, Alice felt that she would be able to sense it if her sister were alive or dead, it may have been just a twin to twin sort of sense, to know whether or not the other was still alive. Alice really hoped her sister was alive, she didn't see much reason for her to be dead since she was the last scientist the Legion had who was making their super weapons. But for all Alice knew, April was making weapons that backfired on the Legion.

"Do you feel well?" Joshua asked

Alice shook her head.

"What can I do to help?"

"Distract me, somehow."

"Alright. What should I distract you with?"

"Anything. Even verses out of that old bible of yours. Just something to keep my mind off of current thoughts. It seems science isn't helping these matters."

"Alright."

Joshua motioned for Alice to hand him his bible, and then flipped open to a page with a marked passage.

"Remember O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem who said 'raze it, raze it, even to the foundation."

Joshua continued to read, his deep beguiling voice keeping Alice intrigued. She remembered back home how she always fell asleep during Mass whenever the priest was reading. The difference between this reading and her past experiences was that Joshua was actually passionate about what he read, not reading for the sake of being heard. Alice subconsciously inched closer to Joshua so that she could listen to him more closely, not realizing she made physical contact with him. Joshua felt her pressing against his side and stopped part of the way through his reading to look at her. Alice noticed him looking at her and then moved away.

"Oh dear! Couldn't hear you. Sorry" Alice said, looking down.

"No, no, that's fine. I don't mind."

Alice bit her lip, feeling embarrassed. Joshua closed the book and set it aside.

"Alice, I won't bite, you know."

"I know, I know."

"Then why do you cringe when we touch? Will touching me 'burn'?" Joshua laughed darkly at his own joke.

"That's not funny."

"You're right, it's not. But I'm attempting to make the situation less awkward for you."

"I see."

"Well take a look at that. It's evening. I say we head to bed."

Joshua stood up, then turned to offer his hand to help her up. Alice looked up at him shyly and took his hand. He lifted her from the ground easily then dropped her hand.

"Well, good night Alice."

"Good night."

Alice went to bed after helping Joshua with his bandages and fell asleep after gazing at the stars. Not long after, she woke up in the middle of the night, panting. She just had a nightmare, or rather, a flashback. Alice was reliving the day her home was destroyed and her family crucified. For some reason, she felt as if she were suffocating. Alice crawled out of her bed and walked into the water. Once she hit the water, her pants felt heavy and slowed down her sprinting. She didn't notice how much noise she was making, and made her way along the river until she got out of the camp and close to the hiking trail up on the small hill. Once she felt calm, she laid herself down on the dirt, panting, tears falling from her eyes. Just then, Joshua appeared over her.

"Holy shit!"

Alice crawled backwards, clearly spooked.

"Alice, are you okay?"

"By Gods no, you scared the livid hell out of me."

"I apologize for that."

Joshua sat down next to her, but she moved further away from him.

"What troubles you?"

"Pardon?"

"I said, what troubles you?"

"Nothing, nothing at all..." Alice frantically shook her head in denial.

Joshua looked at her, not buying it.

"Alice."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What's wrong with talking about it? It will make you feel better. Trust me."

Alice wiped her tears and set her face in a neutral expression to better hide her feelings. She looked at Joshua, who watched her curiously.

"It was only a bad dream, a memory. Nothing more."

Joshua nodded. He got up and offered his hand to Alice. Alice looked up and saw him looking at her expectantly. She took his hand and he lifted her lightly to her feet.

"Are you sure you will be alright?"

"Sure."

Joshua furrowed a brow.

"I don't understand you, Alice."

"I don't understand you either. You're a mystery to me."

"Well, I'm hoping to not be a mystery."

"Mysteries. Interesting phenomenons."

Joshua wasn't following what she meant by that.

"Come now. I take it you're tired."

Alice nodded.

"Let's get back to camp before we find any rampant wildlife."

As Alice moved along, she began stumbling when she took steps. Joshua sighed and scooped her up in his arms.

"Whoa!" Alice said, surprised.

"I don't recommend you walking with this exhaustion."

He peered down at her through the slits of his bandages, his blue eyes locking with her tired brown eyes. Alice's eyelids fluttered closed and her head rolled into his chest. She was asleep before they even arrived at the camp. Joshua walked slowly through the river so as not to activate any bear traps on his feet. When he got to the camp, he set her down on her bed gently and then took her wet pants off before covering her with a blanket. Alice didn't stir, of which Joshua was thankful for. It was awkward for him to undress a woman who was asleep as deeply as she was, especially one who had curves in the right places. He wasn't sure what he would do if she were aware that he pulled off her pants, as it would be hard to convince her that was she wasn't going to be messed with. Joshua took her wet pants over to a tree and hung them on a branch for them to dry off before kicking off his shoes and walking over to his bed to sleep.