"Mmmm...This kitchen smells delectable."

Circe looked up from the crackling bacon simmering in the pan before her, and right at a very nearly naked Heisenberg. She almost dropped the tongs right into the hot grease.

"O-oh, did I wake you? Was I too loud?" she stammered, trying not to think about the fact he was in nothing but his boxers. He was thick, had many muscles, and was just standing there with a sly smile on his face. She didn't even know legs could be that defined.

"Nah, buttercup. I slept like the dead," he made his way over to Circe to wrap his arms around her waist. "It was the smell I woke up to. Had my mouth-watering," he moved her hair from one side of her neck to the other.

Circe trembled beneath his touch while still trying to pay attention to the bacon. "I m-made enough for the both of us," she managed to say, pressing her back against him.

Earlier, before she started cooking, she went to her room to take a shower and changed into fresh clothes. Instead of the flashy clothes she had worn from Castle Dimitrescu, she was now wearing a simple black tank top and black shorts that were made with soft cotton.

She could feel the heat from his legs on the back of her thighs.

"Ahh...how sweet of you," he purred in her ear, trailing his teeth down to the crook of her neck.

A soft gasp came from Circe's mouth while he did this, and she had to tighten her grip on the tongs. "I d-don't want to burn the b-bacon," she stammered, but it was suddenly very hard for her to concentrate or even care about cooking.

The hot breath from Heisenberg's mouth made Circe shiver when he laughed. "You are so easy to fluster, you know that," he said, one of his hands reaching around her to take the tongs from her shaking fingers.

She didn't fight him. She let him take control of cooking while simultaneously leaving kisses up and down her shoulder. Before she knew it, the stove was off and breakfast was complete. She had lost herself entirely in his embrace.

She didn't try to move away to plate the food.

With a quickness she was becoming more familiar with as each passing day, Circe turned around and moved her hands up his back, enjoying the way his muscles tensed up from her sudden movement.

"Oh-" he spurted out.

She didn't let him say anything else. Her mouth connected with his and it was all over.

Who's the flustered one now, huh?

It didn't take long for him to try and match her movements, his hands grabbing tightly on her waist to pull her towards him. She knew it would be easy to get away from him if she wanted to, but she went along with it, letting herself be pressed against him.

Their breathing was becoming acute now, but Circe wasn't done quite yet, and it seemed like neither was Heisenberg. His hands were moving, grabbing, and tugging at any place he could.

She wanted to try one more thing, and she supposed now would be a better time than ever. At least, while she was thinking about it.

She took his bottom lip between her teeth and pulled down slightly, earning an actual moan from the man. The sound sent something through her; a feeling that shot through her lower regions.

Apparently, it also shot through Heisenberg's, because she could feel a bulge forming within his boxers.

Circe broke away from him, immediately taking in gulps of air and looking up into his heavy-lidded eyes. His face was as flush as hers probably was.

"S-sorry," she blurted once she regained control of herself. "I just... I haven't... I don't think-"

"It's okay, sweetheart," Heisenberg breathed, a bewildered smile on his face. "I won't force you to do anything, but..." he laughed for a moment, then kissed her forehead hard. "It's just been a long fuckin' time since I've wanted anyone like...this."

"When was the last time?" Circe asked.

"I know it was before Miranda got her hands on me, so fuckin' decades ago," he said begrudgingly. "I was consumed by pure revenge. I took no interest in any distractions from work."

Circe reached up with both hands to stroke the hair on the sides of his face. "I'm taking some of the workload now, so you can relax a little, yeah?"

"I don't wanna get too comfortable," he sighed. "But during moments like this...," he leaned his forehead to hers.

Circe smiled and sighed happily, but a feeling of dread crept through her bones. He was right. They couldn't let their guard down.

"Let's eat," she said, pulling away so that she could look at him. "I have a lot to catch you up on when we're done.

Heisenberg was on the couch, in his usual attire, next to Circe as she opened her journal to a marked page. She readjusted herself so that she was comfortable, then looked at him.

"You ready?" she asked.

"As I'll ever fucking be. I already know I'm gonna get pissed off," he answered.

"I have no original birth certificate," she began. "A better way to input it: my only birth certificate was made by the Umbrella Corporation."

"Umbrella Corporation? That's what they call themselves?" Heisenberg snorted.

Circe nodded. "The earliest notes were of how they got me. I was the child of a homeless woman," This was harder for her to speak out loud than she had anticipated. "They didn't even document her name. She died on the table. They didn't...they said they didn't want to w-waste the resources on keeping her alive."

Heisenberg put a hand on her knee and squeezed, but stayed silent so that she could continue.

She made herself get straight to the point. She didn't want to start crying. "This particular hospital was, and could possibly still be, in league with Umbrella. Seeing that they had a blank slate to work with, they turned me over to the more high-end facilities and created their own identity for me."

Circe could tell Heisenberg was trying to hold himself together.

"They gave my case to Doctor Jonathan Kramer. He had a project they wanted to test. A serum made from something called the X-001 Virus. They wanted to see what it would do to a living subject. And that subject was me."

"So they just injected it into you like you were some kind of lab rat straight from the womb," Heisenberg said through clenched teeth.

Circe shook her head. "They waited a year while they kept me alive in a controlled environment."

He scoffed. "Only a fuckin' year... They could have killed you, Circe! They had no idea what that could have done to an infant!"

"They did kill me," she whispered.

Heisenberg grew quiet.

"Over and over again. But the first time was when they injected me with the serum. Their notes said my body convulsed and gave out," she explained, turning to the next page in her journal.

"Did they try to bring you back to life, or did they think you were a waste of resources, too?"

"No, they didn't try to bring me back. They just waited to see what would happen," her fingernails were raking across the back of her book now. "After a few moments of them waiting, I came back on my own. Screaming. They got me to calm down and then ran a bunch of tests on me. Found my heartbeat was faster than regular humans. I healed a lot faster than regular humans. All needle pricks vanished when they pulled the syringes away."

Circe felt like she was running out of air. She grabbed her glass of water and let the liquid flow down her mouth. It was cold. It helped her gain the outer rim of her senses back. But when she was about to start talking again, the fuzziness returned.

"Here," she held out the journal to him. She couldn't keep going like this. "The rest of it is mostly the effects and abilities that were a result of the serum. Oh, and logs of my behavior over up until I was thirteen," even though she was overwhelmed, she couldn't help but smirk at that last part.

Heisenberg took the book from her. She could see his eyes scanning the pages as he read. She was glad she only wrote down what was most important, or this would have taken longer; though she doubted that he would have tried to decipher the formulas as she had.

When he was done he closed the book and placed it on Circe's lap. She could see his clenched teeth through his jaw. She watched his tongue slide over his bottom lip. For a brief second, she was taken back to their earlier moment in the kitchen.

The moment was replaced quickly when Heisenberg spoke.

"Once we are done with Miranda...," he began, adjusting himself on the couch so that he was facing Circe directly. "Once we finish ripping that bitch up into a million tiny pieces...we go after the shits who did this to you."

Her mouth parted slightly as she heard these words being spoken. "Wha-"

"We will take the whole thing down!" he bellowed, getting to his feet to pace around like he did while questioning Cynthia. "There is no way they can keep getting away with this! I'm so fucking tired of people using others for their own advantage!"

Circe wanted to bring up that Heisenberg had been doing his own experiments on people he didn't even know, but she knew he was in a highly passionate state. She didn't want to rile him up even more than he already was.

"The things they did to you? The way they would cut you up and put you back together? How they would drain you of all of your blood and just leave you there until you woke up again?"

Circe was staring at the floor, trying her best not to go into a flashback. Did she want to take down Umbrella? How did that saying go? Open a can of worms? Did she really want to do that and risk the happiness she could achieve by running away with Heisenberg and Cynthia once Miranda was gone?

She didn't even know if she wanted to think about that.

"Let's take this one step at a time," she said, putting her journal down on the arm of the couch and shaking her head slightly. "We need to focus more on getting rid of Miranda before we take on a huge corporation."

"We could grind them up into burger patties if we wanted to!" he had stopped walking to raise his hands in the air defiantly.

Circe heaved a sigh. "I am certain that the Umbrella Corporation has many, many more facilities than the one I was at," she stood up and walked to Heisenberg. "It would take forever and they know all of my weaknesses."

"They don't know my weaknesses," he corrected, stopping and grabbing her shoulders. "They'll have no idea what I can do!"

"We can't be sure of that," she said pensively. Her tone was a bit softer now, more broken. "There's no telling what Miranda had already told them. We don't know if they have a deal of some kind."

Heisenberg opened his mouth like he was about to argue, but just dropped his arms and put his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"We have to focus on me getting better at using my abilities to destroy Miranda before we can worry about anything else," she reiterated. "The documents talked about a lot of things I didn't know I was able to do. They also talked about my weaknesses. We have to make sure we take that into account."

"You're right, you're right," he said finally, taking a hand from his pocket to put his fingers underneath her chin. "You're right, but I don't like it."

Circe had to stifle a laugh that threatened in the back of her throat. "You don't like being wrong that often, do you?"

Heisenberg snickered. "You caught me, buttercup," was smiling down at her. A soft smile.

Circe wanted nothing more than to pull him into his room and snuggle up with him under the covers of the bed. Simply forget all of their problems and sink into his embrace. Talk about what they would have done had their lives been different. Had they not both been forced into a fucked up science experiment.

But they couldn't do that. There was no time to sit idly by. Miranda had a head start, which meant they were already at a disadvantage.

She will sleep later tonight. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to, she would have to. There would be no point in depriving herself just to make a point. Heisenberg was right about having breaks, even if she only made sure they were for a short time.

No more time for brooding. She was going to make the most of the time she had with Heisenberg.

"I need to practice," Circe popped up to kiss him briskly, then bolted back all the way to the door to the hall so he couldn't seize the opportunity to take hold of her. "I'll race you to the front."

In the blink of an eye, and a shrill laugh, the door was open and she was gone.

Circe obviously won. Heisenberg was left in her dust.

She was standing in the middle of the field, leisurely stretching, when he finally scrambled out of the factory. She was reaching for the sky, almost like she could pluck a cloud right from the sky.

"I don't know who you think you are, running away from me like that!" Heisenberg called, making his way towards her. She could tell he was joking, though there was an underlying frustrated tone. Perhaps he wasn't used to being outrun.

"Maybe you should just catch me next time," she teased, lowering her arms to lace her fingers behind her back.

"Oh, I'm gonna catch you, alright," he was closer now, with a grin spread across his face. He was slowly picking up speed.

Circe wasn't in any hurry. She rocked back on her heels. "Prove it."

Heisenberg let out a playful growl and started sprinting. When he got close enough to leap at her, he did so but landed on empty ground. After blinking a few times, he spun around to see Circe standing behind him. Almost exactly in the same place he had jumped from.

Circe laughed and held up one index finger. "Advantage number one: I'm super fucking fast."

He was still as surprised as ever. She had no idea exactly how fast she was moving, her surroundings never really changed when she did it, but it seemed like Heisenberg wasn't able to even keep his sights on her.

"Gotta admit, I think you're a lot faster than our first day of training," his eyes were still a bit wide, but the corners of his mouth started to turn up.

"I think so, too," she skipped over to him, pinched his nose, then sped past him to stand next to a car that had been covered with plastic.

It took him a moment to process before he turned around to face her. "You're gonna give me whiplash if you keep doing that."

Circe laughed and dramatically pulled the plastic tarp off, letting it fall to the ground at her feet. "Advantage two," she held up two fingers. "I'm apparently really fucking strong."

From what she read, she was exceptionally strong when she was a child, but since those notes were old, she didn't actually know if she could do what she was about to do. Taking a deep breath, she reached down and picked up the metal with both hands.

Though it was mangled, it came up in one piece. It was only the husk of a car, no engine or tires. It still should have been a lot heavier than what Circe made it out to be. It was lifted off the ground with ease, surprising even her.

They did not record her strength being this high. It must have developed as she got older.

"What the fuck!" Heisenberg said, walking over as she set the car down.

"Yeah, honestly, I didn't expect to be able to do that," she admitted. "That was just the last thing I felt like I could show off." She smiled sheepishly at him. "And you already know I'm good at fighting."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you're good at fighting," he rubbed the back of his neck, probably remembering being unable to best her at their first training session. "But what about that blast thing you can do? The notes talked about it a little..."

Circe shrugged and looked down at her hands. "It was only brought up when they talked about the death of Doctor Kramer," she said. "They made a note that it happened and that they tried to induce it again. Other than that, there was nothing."

"Maybe it developed later. Like your strength," Heisenberg offered.

"Maybe...," she sighed. "I have a theory that it occurs during high emotional states."

"High emotional states? You mean it might only happen if you get too upset?" he asked.

She nodded. "I hope I'm wrong. I hope it doesn't happen like that. That would mean I wouldn't be able to control it."

Heisenberg let out something between a sigh and a groan. "What else did it say you could do? I was distracted by what they did to you. Didn't pay too much attention to your abilities."

"Well, something that I would rather not test on purpose, is that I apparently heal really fast," she leaned on the car. "Which would be incredibly useful."

Heisenberg was nodding. "Anything else?"

She shook her head. "Not really. They mentioned I was very astute, and that I was able to learn most things rather quickly. Which explains why I am able to read so fast."

"That maid needs to hurry up and get us some more copies," Heisenberg grumbled.

"Cynthia needs to be careful. If she gets caught, then Miranda might find out that she had been giving us information. I don't think she would like that very much," Circe provided, walking over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah," he huffed, taking her in by her hips. "She should still hurry the fuck up. We don't have a lot of time."

"What do you mean? Did Miranda say she had some sort of time-sensitive plan?" Circe's eyebrows knit together.

"Well, she mentioned there would be a very important meeting coming soon. Something about a baby...," he explained.

"Baby? What's that supposed to mean?" She was so confused and already extremely horrified.

"I dunno, buttercup. All I know is, she wants all of the lords there," he pointed a finger at her chest. "She said that included you. She considers you part of her fucked up family."

Circe rolled her eyes and moaned unhappily. "I don't want anything to do with her stupid family," she dipped her head to his chest. "I don't wanna do anything to a baby, either," she looked back up at him. "When did she say this meeting is?"

"The bitch didn't say. She just told me it would be soon. That could mean days or weeks or months," he waved a hand about.

"Could mean days...," she whispered.

Heisenberg moved some hair from out of her face before he caressed the side of her cheek. "I think we could take her now..."

Circe began shaking her head. "No, n-no," she sputtered. "No, I'm not ready. I'm not ready."

Heisenberg sighed lightly and brought her to him, his arms hugging her tightly. One hand rose up to stroke her hair. "Okay, okay, sweetheart, we still have time. For now, we have some time..."

They stood like that for a moment while Heisenberg calmed her down. She had begun shaking, and she didn't want to lose control of herself. She had to admit, all of those memories she had recovered last night had taken a lot from her.

Tonight was her sleep night. She would rest then.

Circe had made a few attempts to manifest the blasts. She wasn't able to work for very long and she never got anywhere with it. She was really starting to lose hope she wouldn't be able to use that ability while she was calm.

When she was tired of doing that, they ate lunch, then began making the factory more secure and guarded.

They included a secret entry they would tell Cynthia about. It would help keep their exchanges more private. The entry was far away from the factory so that Cynthia could travel safely under the ground through a tunnel. It would take her to one of the sub-basements Heisenberg had decided would be a good place to keep all the files and their research.

By the time they were ready to eat dinner, the factory only had one easy entrance in and out, which was through the front, double doors. Heisenberg said he wanted to do that a long time ago, but he had lost interest.

After dinner, Heisenberg took a shower. Circe took that time to write down the events of the day in her journal. She knew she was obsessed with record-keeping at this point, but she couldn't help it. The fear of losing her memory again with no way to regain it is something she considered worse than being obsessive.

After Heisenberg was finished with his shower, Circe went and took her own.

Then she found herself staring at her reflection through the condensation sticking to the mirror. It was hard to make out her features, they all blended together, making it seem like her face had been stretched out.

She took her hand to the fog, revealing a window of clarity. She felt like a whole different person. So much had changed in only two days, and she felt like she hadn't really been able to sit down and really process it all.

Here, however, she felt like she had a moment she could spend on herself. Not that she couldn't be herself around Heisenberg. She just got through her emotions better when she was alone. She could better analyze the things that transpired.

Maybe it was because she stayed up for longer. That wasn't mentioned in the notes. Another thing she would have to wait to learn about.

Who knows. Perhaps she should stop questioning everything.

Irrespectively, her outlook on things had changed. She was not prepared to die in order to keep Heisenberg and Cynthia alive. She would do anything to keep them safe, and that included her getting stronger and gaining control of herself.

She needed to be more confident in her decisions. It was now or never, and she would rather she got a head start. If this were a perfect world, she wouldn't have even had to deal with all of this. She would have probably led a normal life. Might have been a writer.

But then she would have never met Heisenberg. She didn't think she wanted to live in that world.

She focused on her reflection once more.

She wondered why the skin around her eyes was red.

Then she dried off, put on pajamas, and walked out of the bathroom.

Heisenberg was lying in his bed, tinkering with a small machine she had seen him working on before. She walked into the doorframe of the room, leaning against it much as he would do.

Heisenberg looked up and grinned at her. She couldn't help but notice his eyes drift up and down her form. She was wearing a clean pair of cotton shorts and a large black tee that hung below them, a bit shorter than dress length.

Circe smirked. "Like what you see?"

Heisenberg nodded, never once taking his eyes from her. "Come here."

Circe obeyed immediately, climbing from the bottom of the bed and right beside him. He put down his project on his nightstand, then moved the covers so Circe could snuggle close.

He smelled so good and she allowed herself to fill her lungs with his scent. His skin was soft, except for the pads of his hands, so she enjoyed skimming her fingers over his shoulders and back.

He sighed lightly, turning so he was facing her head on to look her in the eyes. "You okay?"

She blinked at him a few times. Had she been moping around? "Yeah, I'm okay. Why?"

"I'm just making sure," his fingers traced her jawline. "You did a lot today. And yesterday. I don't know how you do it."

Circe shrugged the shoulder she wasn't lying on. "I don't know, either. We might find out in future files."

"Maybe...," he seemed to be distracted by something on her lip. "You're going to sleep tonight though, right?"

"Yeah. I'm really tired. My eyes feel heavy," she said, shifting her body even closer to his.

"Mmm...," Heisenberg's thumb was grazing her bottom lip now. "How about some goodnight kisses?" he asked sleepily.

Circe smiled. Her chest felt like it would suddenly explode. "Of course," she said.

Heisenberg gave her a smile of his own. "Thanks so much, buttercup."

Then their lips connected and they forgot about the world for a moment.