"You know Jack,"

Well. That was unexpected.

Ethan blinked once. Then he stared. Jack. A flash of faded green hair. Sparkling blue eyes. A wide, happy smile that lit up the room. A mysterious aura. Tears. Smiles. Sobs. Laughs. A bombardment of memories filling Ethan's mind and he froze.

He had tried so hard to push these thoughts away because they hurt. He didn't know why, but they hurt. So damn much. And now some frosty blonde guy with an accent was just talking about him. Like he knew him. And all Ethan could do was stand there and stare, before numbly nodding his head.

The man sighed, looked around as if watching for someone, before taking a step into Ethan's little cubicle. A hand was suddenly on Ethan's shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts slowly but surely as the man's grey-blue eyes stared at him, into him. He would swear the man's eyes glowed a bit, but that was impossible.

"I'm an old friend of his, I'm here to tell you to expect him soon. I may have left him and the others, but I never stopped keeping tabs on him. He's been looking for you," the man stated, his eyes seemed to flash before he stepped back and took his hand from Ethan's shoulder. Almost immediately a fog settled over his mind and the younger man had to reach out to steady himself from the suddenness of it.

He grabbed his chair as his legs felt like they were turning to stone, or perhaps it was jello? And it was at that moment he remembered the chair was a swivel chair, and he was suddenly on the floor a dull pain in the back of his head. The stranger's hands were on him then, helping him stand back up and lowering him back into his chair.

Stay.

He heard the man say it, but even through his foggy mind he was sure he'd never seen the man's mouth move. Tell him Felix says hello, and then Ethan was alone in the fog of his mind, desperately trying to wake up.

...

Anti had ended up loathing being 'home'. As soon as he had come back everything in him was buzzing to leave again. During times when he wasn't paying attention his form would occasionally fade into the guise of 'Jack', and the way his form would flicker the others started calling it glitching. He hated it. It didn't help that the longer he stayed away the more thinking of Ethan hurt. He didn't even know why.

It had been over four months. He needed to stop being so hung up about a guy he barely knew. Or, that's what he kept telling himself.

"You're thinking again," a deep voice said from behind him, and Anti spun around quickly, scooping the knife he'd taken from Ethan's home up from where it had been resting next to him. He pointed the object threateningly at whoever had the gall to sneak up on him. It was only Dark, and Anti sighed with a roll of his eyes.

"What do you want?" He sneered, turned back to the open space in the wall to look out over the nearby field. He heard a sad sigh from behind him, then some shuffling and the crunching of hay beneath feet before Dark lowered down next to him with a pained grimace.

"I want to know what you're thinking of. What has had my best fr- my best soldier down for the count the past few months, that's what I want," Dark said, turning to face him. He closed his eyes, his head falling down to his chest. He stayed silent.

"Anti, please," Dark's voice was uncharacteristically soft, "I am your friend, tell me what's wrong?" Anti's head turned slowly to eye the being beside him, and he again said nothing. He knew the look in Dark's eye, the traitorous twitch of the lower lid, no matter how subtle. Dark was trying to gain information, he was attempting to manipulate him into giving him all the answers. Anti wasn't about to put Ethan in harm's way just because Dark was being nice to him, he wasn't going to give in.

Dark sighed from his spot next to Anti, before standing with a muffled groan, "I'll find out what happened then, Anti. Don't you doubt it."

"I wouldn't dare," he said with a roll of his eyes, his hand coming up to rub at his throat absently as he looked back toward the field. He heard an annoyed huff from Dark before the soft crunch of hay beneath feet signaled him leaving. Anti sighed again, slowly lowering himself to lay down on the hay covered floor.

"I wouldn't dare..." he repeated to himself. Then he sat upright, eyes wide with a sudden panic. If Dark finds out- If he finds a way to have tracked my location he could find-

"Ethan!"

...

Anti raced down the steps from the loft where he had been and down to the main floor of the shack. He passed a shocked Cry and pushed Mare out of his way in his rush to get down. His form was glitching profusely, but he couldn't focus enough to keep one single form. He raced through the front doors and out into the sun with a wild look on his face.

"Anti!" Dark was calling him from inside the shack. If Dark hadn't seen him, someone at the very least told him that he was leaving. Anti ignored him, his head wiping around as he spun in a confused circle, thinking. How do I leave? Where do I go?

He jumped when a hand touched his glitching shoulder and he stumbled back away from it, "Don't touch me!" he shouted, swinging around to face whoever had tried to make contact. It was Dark, and the panic surged again, "Stay back! I- I need to- I need-" His words were falling apart, his glitching form and heightened senses making his words come out as static and Anti shook his head, "I n-neEd to g-G-go!"

And then he was gone. Anti had jumped, and he wasn't exactly sure how. He'd never had the ability to do so before, but he didn't focus too much on the surprise leap from one place to another. His skin tingled with electricity and he had no idea where he was.

"Anti!" he heard a distant call of his name and bolted in the opposite direction. He must still be near the shack, he'd probably have recognized the place if he had had a clearer mind, but he didn't. All he knew was that Dark and the others would be looking for him, and he had to go. He had to find Ethan and make sure he was okay.