"I suppose that we can sell the jeep for cash." Eiji snuck a glance at Ankh in the mirror as he washed his spare pair of underwear in the bathroom sink. They had needed another shower after their exertions this morning, and as it was unlikely they would stay another night, he had decided to take advantage of the luxuries while they had them.

"Hmm?" Ankh looked amused as he preened over Eiji's shoulder, making sure that his hair looked the way he wanted to. "And here you didn't even want me to take it."

"I don't like stealing," Eiji admitted, following Ankh's fingers as they buttoned the loose shirt. Their bodies kept brushing together in the small bathroom, making the air feel electric. "But I have to say that they deserved it. And we need money for the ticket home."

Ankh hadn't asked again about the people hunting them, but he felt the curious look as he looked down and focused on his underwear. Ankh wanted answers. Wanted the truth. But the truth wasn't important here; it was just something that he wanted to forget. Shake off. Soon they would be back in japan and far out of reach. He hoped. The fact that he had been forced to transform into OOOs last time meant that maybe there would be more than men with guns next time. If he let there be a next time.

"Money…" Ankh huffed again, pressing closer to Eiji since he was finished dressing. "Whatever, you deal with it."

Ankh's bare hands slid over Eiji's equally bare midriff. He was still wearing nothing but his underwear, and the feeling of the fully dressed man behind him was enough to make him sigh a little wistfully as he pressed back. It had just been an hour since they'd left each other breathless on the bed, but Ankh's skin was a new addiction. But he needed to keep his head clear now, needed to focus on what was important.

Even if he wanted nothing more than just crawl back into bed and stay there.

"I was thinking…" Eiji's voice cracked a little, because Ankh's hand had slid lower, teasing him through his boxers. It wasn't enough to make him harden yet, but the twitches made it difficult to think. "We need to… I mean I have a passport, but you…" … didn't technically exist. "Can you still transform into just an arm?" It was the only thing he could think of to get the greed past customs. A souvenir, like the masks that Yuusuke always made sure to pick up.

It was only when Ankh pulled back his hand with a hiss that he realized he might have said something wrong.

"Fuck you for even suggesting that!" Harsh words, an even harsher stare, and Ankh stomped out of the bathroom followed by an apologetic Eiji.

"I'm sorry," Eiji tried, reaching out for Ankh only to have his hand slapped away. "I don't know how to get a fake passport, and you can't just sneak on a plane. That way you could pass as luggage, it would just be for a few hours." It made sense, maybe it wasn't dignified, but it would get them back and why was Ankh looking at him like that?

Like he just had his heart torn out and stomped on? Like he was pondering doing the literal act to Eiji?

"what?" Eiji just managed to get the word out before Ankh's face hardened and his arm flickered into armour a second before it smashed into Eiji's gut.

It hurt, more so because it was completely unexpected. Eiji stumbled backwards as he tried to catch a breath, watching Ankh pull back, eyes wide, mouth a tight line. There was a moment there of hesitation, then the former Greed simply huffed and stormed from the room, the door slammed open so hard it nearly bounced back in his head.

"Ankh!" Eiji found the breath he had been looking for, running after Ankh out in the hallway. "Wait a second…"

His words had no effect. Eiji could feel the same horror curling in his gut as when Ankh had reformed the first time, and his first act had been walking over to Shingo and nearly strangle the man before his control faded and his body dissolved once more. Something was going horribly wrong, and time slowed down and he could see Ankh looking back over his shoulder as he ran, a quick glance, revealing a haunted face, eyes nearly black. Maybe this was a dream again; maybe he was having a nightmare, because Ankh reached the open window at the end of the hallway and jumped through it without a second thought.

They were on the third floor.

Eiji nearly knocked over the guests who were just stepping out of the elevator in his hurry, but once he'd reached the window, any trace of Ankh was already gone.

It was only then he realized that he was still just in his underwear. And that the two complete strangers who had started to curse at him had stopped and were now looking rather embarrassed, at least the woman. She was blushing wildly, looking away, while the man looked like he wasn't sure what to do, except keep cursing in a language Eiji didn't know.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'm really, really sorry." English. French. Japanese. The bow was quick, repeated once, and then he ran back to the room without waiting for a reply.

Ankh was gone. Clothes. He needed clothes. Pants. Shirt. Shoes and they took too long but he had no choice and Ankh was already gone and what had he said? What had even happened? Grabbing keys and phone he rushed out again, glad that the corridor at least was empty this time. He had no time for arguments.

Except he was having one now, wasn't he? An argument? With Ankh? Except you couldn't have an argument with someone who wasn't there and why had he run off instead of attacking like he normally did? Was what he had done so much worse? What had he even done?

The stairs are faster than the elevator, but it leaves him out of breath once he reaches the street, more from panic than exhaustion. Two directions. Ankh could be anywhere. What had he…

… oh.

Eiji feels his knees give out before they do, and manage to sit down instead of topple over, resting his back against a wall. People had to move around him, but he couldn't move, not right now. He needed to breathe first. Think. Because he had… he hadn't been thinking. At all.

Ankh was more than just a hand now. He was whole. Had a body. And Eiji had suggested that he'd give that up. Even if he could recreate himself. And what if he couldn't? What if he had agreed and then… the thought was too much to process. He just hadn't been thinking. He had been too used to Ankh being just a hand. Detaching himself when it was handy. But he hadn't done that since… and he couldn't even be sure this body would last, could he? Ankh was probably worried. Maybe even scared. And Eiji had treated him like… well, a thing.

He really was an idiot, but for once Ankh was not around to tell him so.

—-

It took a while, even after Eiji had managed to get to his feet. It took a while to get his head together. Start breathing. Start looking.

High places. Parks. That's where he usually ended up. He didn't know this city, but neither did Ankh, so he went with what he could see. Tried to guess where the former Greed would have stormed off to. Tried to resist the urge to transform and take to the rooftops and look from up there. Instead he walked. Ran for a bit. Walked back. Looked elsewhere. Even shouted, though that gave him strange looks.

But it took a while. And he didn't find Ankh in a tree. Or on a building.

He found him hunched on a bench at the edge of a small park, eating an ice cream. Sitting on the backrest. Feet on the seat. Eyes distant.

Eiji didn't run up to him immediately, because there was that fear that Ankh might run again. That he had ruined something good. Something important. So he watched. Ankh stared straight ahead, focused on the ice cream. He didn't move. He didn't look over in Eiji's direction. Why was it so hard to make his feet take that first step forward? It shouldn't be. He was sorry. So sorry. But if he didn't say, Ankh wouldn't know. And for him to know he had to walk over there.

Walk over and sit down.
The bench had room enough for two.

"I… didn't think." Eiji started, perched on the edge of the bench, because Ankh sprawled over most of it.

"Obviously." Ankh looked away, but moved his foot so there would be room for Eiji to sit properly.

More room. Eiji didn't dare to move closer. Instead he looked down at Ankh's feet. They were bare, he had left without his sandals. A bit dirty. Neat toenails. Human feet. They made his heart break a little more.

"I won't do it!" Ankh broke the silence when Eiji failed to find the words. He looked over at him when Eiji was afraid to do anything but look down.

"I know." Eiji's sigh was so heavy that it felt like his lungs would implode, but he did manage to look up, meeting Ankh's carefully guarded look. "I should never have suggested it."

"Damn right." Emotions twitched over Ankh's angular face, faster than Eiji could keep up. Anger? Disappointment? Fear? Relief? He wasn't sure what was really there and what he was just imagining. "I am not a thing."

"I love you, you now?" Eiji was as surprised at the words coming out of his mouth as Ankh, but there were no room for lies there, not now. He had faced down more frightening monsters than his own emotions.

"eh?" Ankh blinked, emotions coalescing into a look of complete puzzlement.

"I mean…" Eiji pushed on, looking up at Ankh now, willing his sincerity to show. "I loved you even back then. Probably. Even though I was so afraid to care. Even when I was too scared to admit it even to myself. Even when I swore I'd free Shingo from you. Even when I said I would stand in your way if you ever turned against humanity."

"Even when I was a thing…" The words were quiet, almost contemplative, Ankh tilting his head as if he tried to figure out how to react.

"You never were a thing to me, Ankh." Eiji knows he is sincere there, and he really hopes that it shows.

Because it is the truth. Even knowing what the Greed were, he had never really seen Ankh as one of them. Not after the first few weeks at least. Not after learning that there was a person there. Someone who liked ice cream. Someone who preferred windows to doors. Someone who could be proud, annoyed, aggressive but… who tried. Even when he never admitted it. Someone who wasn't kind, but who protected people that mattered. When it was needed.

"I paid for the ice cream." The admission is sudden and said with a huffed pout, as if it was half an insult, half a peace offering.

"That's good." Eiji nods, feeling like he might start crying, but he smiles instead. Because in a way, it is as sweet and unexpected as a profession of love.

Actions always spoke louder than words with Ankh.

"We're chased by enough people." Ankh didn't move away when Eiji reached out a hand, running his fingers over the top of his bare foot, he just kept looking at him, angular, angry posture slowly relaxing.

"We are." Eiji sighed and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.

He looked at it for a long moment, trying to come to a decision. When he had departed on this journey he had done it alone. People had lives to get back to. Careers to pick up or rebuild. Everybody except him. Those broken medals in his pocket had been his life, but Ankh was here now. Was slowly easing his foot in under Eiji's thigh, a little point of contact that healed the last of the rifts inside him. Made everything worth it.

He had set out on this journey alone. Had refrained from asking for help from anybody, though he knew that Kougami would have loved putting his considerable resources to use in the cause of medal research. But even if that might have brought back Ankh faster, or more surely, it would also have left them in his debt. Ankh wouldn't have a life of his own. Not the same way. Eiji would be forever grateful for Kougami's aid, but he had never had any illusions that the man was doing it for his own interests. That it was just luck that had cast them on the same side, and that it might change in the future. Kougami was a fount of such unrivalled desire that it frightened him, and the thought of Ankh being used as leverage… no.

It was not a risk he was willing to take.

But Date had a point, back then. Had a point in that maybe it was okay to reach out a hand sometimes. Accept help. On his journey he had done so, would never have got Ankh back without the aid of others. People with no stake in his quest, friends old and friends new. Who didn't ask questions. Who were willing to do what they did for the same reasons that he was. He hadn't reached out his hand then, but he had at least not been afraid to grasp the ones stretched out to him.

But Ankh had paid for that ice cream.

Eiji calculated the time difference to Japan in his head to make sure it was alright to call, then took a deep breath and did so. Ankh was quiet beside him, as if he understood the importance of what Eiji was doing. The signals rang out, then a familiar voice answered, and he couldn't help the smile blooming on his face.

"Hina?" Eiji wondered if she could hear the excitement in his voice, but in case she couldn't he quickly added; "It worked. It really did. Ankh's back." There was no scream of excitement in his ear, just a quiet relief and something that might have been sobs.

"Yes, he's right here next to me," Eiji looked up at Ankh, who looked party annoyed, party amused. "I know. Fine, I will hug him from you. Though probably not as hard." The eyeroll made Eiji smile even wider. "And yes, about that, I was wondering…"

A deep breath. A moment of hesitation. But he could do this. He could reach out a hand. Hope that someone would take it.

"… is Satonaka there?"