Hello again. Sorry for not updating sooner. Translating this story gives me more nightmares than I had expected. This plus the fact that work keeps me busy. I had a week off but I didn't manage to do the stuff I intended to - Dragon Age Inquisition took over my life.

I hope you all had some nice christmas holidays. Also thanks to the people who followed/faved this story.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Yana kept drumming her fingers on a small table in a backroom of the shop she worked at. The moment she came back, she noticed the missing keys. In a blind panic – she had hoped she just wasn't finding them because she was in a hurry, that maybe they were stuck somewhere between other things in her bag – she had turned it around and scattered all contents on the table. Everything was there, just not the keys which meant she had lost them for sure.

It wasn't enough that it were the keys to her apartment but also to her workplace – which were a lot to be honest. Not to mention the staff card. No matter who had her keys: they now had no problems to rob the store and maybe even find out where she lived. Yana began to wonder how to explain that to her boss. This was the biggest catastrophe she could imagine. Slowly, still thinking about a way to explain what happened and also already signing her resignation in mind, she put her belongings back into the bag.

"Hey Yana, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Some guy, never saw him around before. Say... you sure don't have a boyfriend you keep hiding from us?", there was a playful nudge with the elbow.

"No, no boyfriend and if I had one you would be the last to know. Everything anyone tells you doesn't stay a secret for long. It doesn't even take one hour until the whole neighborhood knows about it", was Yana's answer to a comment she had often heard. Her colleagues, especially Sarah, tried to find a suitable partner for Yana. As annoying as it was, she also had to laugh a little and it was a good thing because she forgot her previous sorrows for that moment. Putting the bag to the side she walked back into the salesroom, her colleague right behind her.

There, with his back towards her, stood the man Sarah mentioned. Yana recognized the jacket he was wearing immediately: it was the same man she ran into just a few minutes before she arrived here. When he turned around he gave her a bright smile.

"What? Am I in trouble after all? I offered you to pay the bill for the cleaning."

"It's not about that", he shook his head and pulled a pair of keys out of his pocket, holding them up for Yana to see. "I guess those might be important and I also have this."

Beside the keys the stranger held up a cup with his other hand. "Cappuccino. I thought... because I ruined the other one."

Yana's eyes widened. This man had become her personal saint just by giving her two things she really needed now. Mainly the keys, the cappuccino was a positive side effect. "I'm sorry I... I'm just so unbelievably glad you found the keys and came here instead of robbing the shop when you had the chance. I know you're an officer but anyone could have found the keys so... I'm glad you did and I could kiss you right now but... that might not be a good idea."

"Well I like that idea", Yana's colleague who stood right behind her mentioned. She had watched the scene with interest. "You know, if you do so, there would be something I can talk about once the others get here."

"Not a chance", Yana turned her attention back to the man. He seemed to be unsure of what to think about this situation. Well, men and unwanted attention from women. Yana couldn't blame him for feeling like he was at a place where he didn't belong and where everybody turned to look at him. It probably was the same feeling she had back when she started working here. "Sorry about her, she's a tattletale. Thanks for bringing me the keys back to me, I seriously have no idea what I would've done if they were gone for sure."

Besides signing her resignation.

"That's what they call being lucky under the given circumstances, I guess", he handed her both, keys and cappuccino, before he continued to speak. "The name's Reggie Rowe by the way."

A gentle smile on her lips, Yana had already taken a sip of the drink, she looked up at him and held out a hand. "Yana Pierce, nice to meet you."

"You know, if this was a Hollywood movie this would be the famous aha moment and you'd be married next week."

"Sarah!"

~ooo~

"I'm so sorry."

Yana had made sure Sarah's life would be a living hell after the woman insisted that Yana and her new friend should get to know each other. In private of course. So, since there wasn't much stuff to do anyways she had sent both, Yana and Reggie, away to enjoy the rest of the day. Spending time in nice company was far more entertaining in her eyes and Yana didn't even try to deny that. Of course this was nicer than waiting for someone to come by the store. She often wondered why her boss still decided to open it. Just like the bars that were closed most of the days, other shops – regardless what they offered – were closed as well because few people felt like shopping.

Maybe her boss thought the people were in need of baby wear because they had nothing better to do than having sex. Yana would eat her hat if there was a sudden increase in the local birth rates nine months from now.

"She reminds me of Betty. I mean your colleague", Reggie said in a quiet voice. To him this whole situation felt a little surreal. Starting with the whole deal of his brother becoming a Conduit in the first place. Who would have ever thought about that? Delsin didn't and Reggie didn't as well. The older man wondered if there were people who wanted to be Conduits. Especially after all the things the D.U.P. spread about them. Delsin had just been as scared as Reggie when the realization sunk into him: he was a Conduit.

An individual most people feared.

"Who's Betty?"

"Mhm... I guess she's something like a grandmother to me", he turned his head to look up towards the sky as he and Yana walked down the street. "Well, she's a grandmother for all of us", Yana already knew that when he said 'us' he meant a whole tribe because he had mentioned that a bit earlier. "She's always worried about everyone, keeps us busy and also keeps an eye on us so we don't do anything she considers as something bad", he had to laugh because that actually meant she kept an eye on Delsin since he was the only one to get into trouble on a regular basis. "She thinks I reached the age to settle down or at least marry and have kids."

"Maybe she's right", why did Yana have to side with Betty now? The two women didn't even knew each other. Besides it sounded like Yana was saying he was old. "If she's kind of your grandmother she might want grandchildren."

"There are enough children she can take care of."

"But they're not yours right? I might be wrong but maybe you're one of the more important persons for Betty. Given the name on your jacket I guess she's in Salmon Bay? That's not close by. Not really anyway. So what brings you here, especially at a time like this?", she asked curious. He must have arrived shortly before the city was locked down and she wondered how he managed. Being away from your family and friends wasn't easy, she could tell that.

"My brother does."

"You have a brother?"

"A younger one yes. I promised Betty to keep an eye on him so he doesn't get into trouble."

"So where is he now?"

"Probably in trouble."

It took Yana a moment but she couldn't help herself and started laughing, Reggie joining her shortly after. She was an only child but her best friend had brothers so she knew how clingy older siblings could get. Reggie seemed to be no exception and she couldn't blame him for any sorrows he might experience right now. Causing trouble in a city full of cameras and D.U.P. was one of the worst things you could do. Their laughter was cut short when Reggie's phone started ringing. Looking for said phone he was surprised when he took a look at the display before answering.

"Delsin. I've been talking about you right now", he gave Yana a grin before he turned his attention back to his brother. "I've tried to call you a few times. Where are you?"

"Sorry, I ran into some problems with the D.U.P. but they're gone now. Got all the relays as well – I'm not too far from you. At least if I can trust the GPS so don't worry about me. I'm still in one piece."

"How soothing."

"Oh come on."

"Well, unlike you I take things serious. You know why we're here – why you're here. I came to protect you but how does that work if you vanish somewhere and I can't even get in touch with you? This... situation is a little complicated don't you think?"

Yana, who still was standing right next to Reggie, wasn't particularly interested in what he was talking about. Plus it was something private. What she understood was that the person on the other end was his little brother and that he seemed to be fine. Whatever he did that made Reggie so worried. Yana wasn't keen on mingling with other peoples business. And also not with worried brothers. The moment Reggie finished the call she noticed how nervous he seemed to be.

"You okay?"

"Yeah.. I'm fine just.. my brother is on his way to our location."

Yana raised an eyebrow. "Is this bad? He's fine too right?"

"Yes.. yes..", he gave her a nod, looking around. Reggie hoped his brother wouldn't arrive in a cloud of smoke. Before the younger one hung up Reggie had tried to tell him that he wasn't alone but he wasn't sure if Delsin had heard him. Or wanted to for that matter.

"I'm just asking because you don't look pleased that your brother is on his way here. Is he that bad?"

"No, no, it's just.. he's.."

A bio terrorist.

No, he couldn't say that. Besides, Delsin would correct him about the term. After all the term bio terrorist was just made up to scare people, Delsin didn't want to scare anyone and preferred to be called Conduit. Reggie liked neither of the names. Delsin was his little brother and that wouldn't change no matter what. Still, if there was a cure Reggie hoped they would find it so everything could go back to normal. Before the accident. Before Augustine.

It was already enough that they had their little 'war' with Augustine. Yana had nothing to do with it but if Delsin appeared now things could become messy. Why did he follow her in the first place? So he could get to know her? This had been a stupid idea and there was no way to just send her away and wait for Delsin. He began to wonder why he cared, why he worried about her even though he barely knew her. Because of his job? He did protect innocent people but there were limits to that. Seattle was full of D.U.P.'s, he couldn't protect the people here but he felt as if he had to and right now he wanted to protect Yana from meeting his brother.

There was something about her, something familiar he couldn't place and who would've thought it was her mother who was the reason for the two brothers to be here? She was a nice woman. One who still had a smile on her face unlike most of the other people in Seattle. He had lost so many friends in the past two weeks and thanks to Yana and her carefree attitude, he could forget all his sorrows for a short moment and that was something he enjoyed.

Still deep in thought he was surprised when Yana touched his arm, a look of worry on her face.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you sure you're okay?"

He didn't even have a chance to answer her.

A cloud of smoke appeared a few feet away from them only to reveal Delsin who fell into a slow jog as he materialized again while scratching his head. It was the same moment he had to realize that his brother had company, cute looking company as well who now looked at him with wide opened eyes as if he was a.. well, Conduit.

"Ehm..", he gave both of them a little wink. "Hey."

Reggie instantly went over to his brother, grabbed his vest and pulled him to the side. "Hey? Hey! That's all you have to say? Besides the fact I was worried about you when you stormed that D.U.P. center and then started looking for those relays, I told you I wasn't alone! Why can't you listen to me when I tell you something like that?"

"Keep calm Reg", Delsin took his brothers hands and pushed them away. "You were the one to help me with the relays; I would've never found them if you didn't give me the coordinates so what? And how should I know that 'I'm not alone' means that you have a date?"

"This is not a date. We were just walking around and..", and.. well Reggie had no idea what they were doing or intended to anyway. There was no answer he could give his brother to explain what he did or why.

The younger brother, obviously aware of the uneasiness in his brothers antics, turned towards the woman he was with. She still stood there like she had been turned to stone, now understanding why Reggie had been acting so strange when he told her his brother was on his way:

"You're a Conduit."

Both men noticed that it was no question. She knew what a Conduit was and they were surprised she did use the – in Delsin's eyes – right word to address him. She also seemed quite calm. It felt strange since the last people who saw him using his powers ran away while screaming for help because he was a monster. Conduit... Augustine had said it herself: it was a word used by Conduits themselves or by people who sided with them. Now it was time to find out to which group she belonged.

He reached out his hand. "The name's Delsin Rowe. It's nice to meet my brothers date."

A bright smile flashed on her lips as she took his hand. "Yana Pierce and I'm not his date."

Also not a Conduit.