A wave of relief washed over Reggie when he and Yana finally reached her home.

After she was done throwing up whatever was in her stomach aside from Cappuccino, she had begun to shout at him. For no apparent reason. This had to be some side effect of the amount of caffeine in her system. He doubted that Joe had given her anything else to drink. Though she had probably asked him for some sort of alcohol during the evening.

Brownie turned to look around the corner when he heard the front door open only to see Yana with his new - but sadly way too rarely around - favorite person to pet him. Yes, he had only been here once but that was enough for Brownie to know that Reggie was a nice person. What the cat also knew was that he would sleep on the couch tonight, because as much as he was happy to see Reggie, he wasn't too happy to see Yana. She looked like a mess. While there were days where Brownie would stay by her side to keep Yana company, today was not such a day.

"Brownie hates me", Yana muttered as Reggie walked her to her bedroom and made her lie down so he could take off her shoes.

"I'd say it's just common cat intellect", he smiled. "You're probably smelling like a ton of coffee to him."

With the last strength she had, Yana propped herself up on her elbows giving Reggie a wary

look as he was in the process of taking off the second shoe. "Are you saying I stink?"

"No, I'm saying you smell like coffee and that to an extent Brownie doesn't like", he turned to look at her. "Aside from that you're not really in a good mood at the moment", standing up from the bed he placed the pair of shoes next to the sliding door, making sure Yana wouldn't fall over them if she got up during the night. Afterward, he walked back to her and began to take off her jacket. "You will feel better once you slept." If that was possible in her state.

"I should apologize to Joe."

"Yes, you should."

"Do you think he hates me?"

Reggie shook his head. "No, I don't think he does."

"The mice hate me for sure."

"You should sleep now."

"I'm not tired.. I could clean up."

"Yana", Reggie's voice was determined as he pushed her back onto the bed and under the covers within seconds so she wouldn't get up again. "Sleep. It'll do you good, believe me."

"Mhm." She stayed silent for a few moments. Her mind wandering back to what had happened earlier this day. Everything that had been said. It was that moment she decided that it would be better to take some precautions. Even with her thoughts all over the place, she knew other people would eventually be in danger because of her. Because of Augustine. "I think.. it would be better if neither you nor Delsin would come by for a while..", she snuggled closer into the covers. "I need some time alone after today."

Well that was a little odd.

Reggie didn't want to press and ask questions as to why, so he decided to leave it at that.

He moved a hand across her cheek. "That's okay but.. no Cappuccino drinking tours from which I need to pick you up. I'm glad it wasn't alcohol but looking at you, caffeine in larger amounts might not be the best for you either - even if that means that you have to say goodbye to the mice", he gave a small laugh and Yana couldn't help herself but smile back at him.

Then her expression changed into a stern one. "I hate her."

"Your mother?", she looked at him right away. The shock about him knowing who she meant that moment was visible on her face. "Joe mentioned she came by your workplace and that the two of you don't get along well."

"That's an understatement. I hate her with every fiber of my body.. she just dropped me off at my dad's and then she left. I thought that she hated me, but now.. she said so many weird things to me. That she always thought about me because I'm her daughter", Yana began to cry, just a bit but she did nonetheless without being able to say why. Maybe because everything was just too much? Because she couldn't understand why her mother would say things like that?

Within just a few days the protective walls to keep her mother away had started to show signs of weakness. Maybe they hadn't been strong enough to keep her out, to begin with. The hate she felt towards her mother had began to surface after their first meeting. After Yana saw who her mother was for the first time. What she was. Up until that point, she just didn't understand why she wouldn't want to be with her daughter. Yana felt disappointed but there were no walls. Those were just a few years old and looking at it now, the foundation sucked. With Delsin looking for Augustine in order to save his friends, keeping the secret to herself and Augustine suddenly showing up.. Yana had to try and rebuild those walls from scratch.

Something that felt way too difficult under the current circumstances.

Sending the two brothers away, sending the people away who - in some kind of way - were responsible for bringing Augustine back into her life, seemed to be the best idea. Even if it hurt. Why did it have to hurt? When Delsin would have Augustine's powers they could see each other again. Right?

Reggie's voice broke Yana's train of thought.

"Listen to me: parents don't hate their kids, they never do", he moved a hand over her arm in an attempt to calm her down a bit. "When I was younger, I was a little daredevil if you want to call it that. I didn't want to play by the rules. It didn't feel right to me and my parents were fed up with that on a constant base. Delsin will confirm that if you ask him", Reggie made a pause and thought about what exactly he wanted to say and was willing to share. He was putting himself in a bad light right now but everyone had a dark side of their own. Even though he was a cop now, he had a rather rebellious phase when he was a teenager. "Sometimes we would work together on those little pranks. Betty wasn't too fond of it, to be honest."

"Sounds like you were a really bad one."

He nodded. "I cut holes into the tires of the sheriff's car."

"You're kidding me!"

"Not one bit. The most important thing about it though, is that our parents always had our backs, even when they were upset. That's how I know parents love you even when you don't act as like they expect you to do."

"The thing with my mother.. it's different. She's a monster. She doesn't have any kind of feelings.. aside from negative ones, but today..", closing her eyes, Yana took a deep breath. The memories of everything that had been said earlier that day were still so vivid. Like it happened just minutes ago. "I wanted to meet her for so long. At one point my dad agreed to help me get into contact with her. He always warned me. I knew she was, well, not a nice person but I hoped, so much, that she would be nice to me. That she wanted to see me as bad as I wanted to see her. Instead, she told me that I was a disappointment, that she made a mistake in agreeing and coming to meet me", she wiped away her tears which, by now, started to come faster. Reggie noticed the way her body shook as she tried to keep herself from crying. ".. I was so scared when she appeared at the store and then, right before she left.. she told me that she had always thought about me.."

The man smiled. "See? She can't be that bad."

"She is. You would understand if you meet her."

He did know her already after all.

A heartless woman who now pretended to not be as heartless as everyone was seeing her. That was how she gave herself in front of others. And now? Should Yana let herself allow to believe that somewhere behind that facade, maybe even walls of her own, was a caring woman? If the whole thing wouldn't be so absurd Yana would have started laughing. She definitely didn't feel like it. All she wished for right now was to have a normal family, a normal life. The only positive thing that had happened thanks to Augustine was Yana meeting Reggie and Delsin. Even if it sounded bad given the circumstances behind them being in Seattle.

"Reggie?"

He looked at Yana. His eyes soft as he watched her getting into a sitting position. "Yes? Anything else you need?"

She shook her head. "No. I just.. are you okay? Joe called you just like that and it's already late. I'm sorry about that. You probably had better things to do than take me home."

"Not really", a sigh left his lips. He actually was kind of glad to be able to get away that easily thanks to Joe's call. "Delsin found Fetch."

"You don't sound too thrilled about that. More like you don't like her", Yana only knew her through the news. And, let's be honest, news about Conduits weren't positive at all. She remembered telling Delsin to be careful when confronting her. That other Conduit, Hank, hadn't been too happy about it either based on what Delsin had said, so the chances for Fetch to react the same way were pretty high. Yana had her doubts that Fetch would be happy once she noticed someone tailing her. Not like anyone would.

Reggie had to chuckle. Yana was able to see right through him. Not that he did anything to hide his feelings towards Fetch or Conduits in general. "If I go and look at this as a cop, no, I don't like her."

He started to explain what Fetch had done. All the murders she was responsible for. The reason why she did it based on what Delsin had told him in a text message he had sent after their call. How much he was torn apart because looking at it from the perspective of being a cop, Fetch had to be put behind bars. Which probably wouldn't be enough to keep her in jail. Yana wasn't a big help either when she mentioned that Reggie would see it from a different point if it was about Delsin. If he would murder people. There was a high probability that he was capable of murder. Thinking of her best friend.. if anything were to happen to her Yana wouldn't be able to hold back her anger. And maybe that would include hurting whoever hurt her best friend.

Things became way too complicated when family was involved.

"She killed her brother. No one else. Others aren't to blame and so her going around and killing people is just wrong", came Reggie's reminder.

"From what you've told me she might have just been out of it. I can understand what she does in a way. And it's not only her and her brother. Other people can't think clearly in a situation like that and she might just not want to have others to experience the same thing", she was, without knowing it, slowly sowing doubts in Reggie regarding his point of view. She could understand him as well though. No matter what kind of job you had, there would be situations where the private you saw things very differently from your work you. Lying back down in the bed Yana closed her eyes. "It might appear weird but in a way, she's doing something good. I'm sure she can be a nice person, you just haven't seen it yet. Maybe it's a good thing Delsin looks after her. He has changed the view of quite a few people in this city when it comes to Conduits. Give them time and put a little more trust in your brother", she patted his arm.

"Maybe you're right and I'm just biased because of my job - which doesn't mean I'm okay with how she handles those things. Delsin sees everything from a very different point of view. I'm not like that anymore", maybe his past self would think the same as Delsin. He could understand Yana's train of thoughts. Delsin had killed people too. Even if they were D.U.P., even if they had attacked him and Delsin simply defended himself. In the end, it came down to the same fact. Both had killed. Both would deserve the same kind of punishment but since he and Delsin were siblings he didn't want to acknowledge that. There was a difference in what was lawfully and morally wrong here even if Reggie should get to the same conclusion: murder needed to be punished.

He couldn't punish Delsin though and because of that fact, Delsin wouldn't allow any punishment regarding Fetch either. If someone felt the two Conduits needed to be punished because of their doings, Reggie wasn't going to be the one to execute it.

And so, while Yana was thinking about how to apologize to Joe, Reggie thought about how he could apologize to Delsin and Fetch in the best way possible.

After everything he had said to them he needed to tell her he was sorry. Hopefully, they would listen to him and not just walk away. He didn't doubt that Delsin would listen. Of course, given this was Delsin he would pretend to be hurt and give him a hard time. That's how it always has been. It was very different when it came to Fetch though. He had no idea how she would take his apology and her impression of him sure was as bad as his was of her.

"Alright", he tapped his hands on his thighs once and stood up. "I'm gonna go now and I'll talk to Delsin. And Fetch. You need to promise me - even if you don't want to see us - to call if there's anything you need. No matter the time of day."

"Promise."

Happy with the answer Reggie moved a strand of hair from Yana's forehead and bend down to gave her a kiss on the head. It was a natural reflex to do so. Something he remembered his parents did long ago when they would tuck him into bed. He remembered how it made him feel happy and safe. Unsure if he overstepped a boundary here, he looked down at Yana who smiled a bit before closing her eyes. Relieved that she didn't seem to mind, Reggie hoped she would feel better after a good night's sleep and hopefully the caffeine would allow her to sleep at all. She sure seemed to be exhausted.

Stepping out of the bedroom Reggie closed the sliding door almost completely, leaving a small space so Brownie could enter if he wanted to. His bed was inside the bedroom after all. Right now however Brownie was lying on the couch and not looking like he was leaving his place anytime soon. Walking over to the couch, Reggie leaned over to give Brownie a few head scratches. A soft purring sound reached the man's ears and he smiled. "Take good care of her for me, will you?", Brownie leaned into the touch as if he was begging Reggie not to go away. "I would be a bit more relieved if you could talk but I take that as a 'yes'."

"Meow."

"I'll see you next time", with that Reggie gave Brownie another scratch before turning to leave the apartment. His thoughts focused on his brother and Fetch.

God how he hated to admit his mistakes.

~ooo~

Delsin and Fetch had made their way around the city in search for more core relays. Quite successful if one might say. While Delsin was able to power up a few new tricks Fetch showed him, she herself managed to take out a few more dealers on the way.

It caused Delsin some discomfort to see, more or less, up close what Fetch was capable of and he asked her to be more careful. Not only because of his brother, who's name caused Fetch to roll her eyes with a sigh. Despite that, she took it to heart - not that she would admit that - and decided to catch the next dealers who would cross her way alive. The male Conduit was happy to see the change of heart and hoped his brother would calm down as well once he heard about it.

"You know D, I've been thinking about those drug dealers on the street. It's not doing any good to go after all those small fish. Maybe we should work up the food chain a little you know? Let's go after the supplier. That'll change things", she spoke over the phone.

Delsin had no idea where she was right now, the last relay had been used and their ways separated afterward. "I'd be more than glad to tag along when you make your next trip up the food chain", maybe that would take his mind of things. On top of that it became a little boring to fight against the D.U.P. all the time. He would be able to help the people of the city too if he worked on the drug problem. "We should stop for today. It's getting late and I should get back to Reggie. Hopefully he has calmed down by now."

"It sucks that he's a cop."

Delsin wanted to agree. Back home in Salmon Bay, they would argue on a regular basis. It was a part of who they were. As sad as that might sound. Their arguments never were that bad that they would stop talking with each other for longer than a few hours and if he was honest most arguments were about silly little things anyway. Only sometimes they were serious. Like the one before the accident with the D.U.P. truck. He wasn't sure where things with Fetch would be going from here on out. Even if she would stop killing people from now on it probably wasn't enough for Reggie. Delsin knew it was wrong to kill but at this point, neither of the brothers could imagine what Fetch had to go through in Curdun Cay.

She had lost her brother, something Delsin didn't want to imagine and was taken without being able to say goodbye. It had very probably been the worst day in her life and the D.U.P., and Augustine, used that to their advantage to shape her into the person she was today. Delsin had seen that she was willing to change her ways this evening. Now Reggie needed to see that as well.

Arriving at the motel Reggie was staying at - Delsin had snuck into the room through a window to not scare anyone because a Conduit was here - he was determined to smooth down their differences. He was a little surprised to find his brother sitting on the couch, simply staring at the wall in thought. He didn't even notice Delsin entering the room. Only when the younger one threw a little smoke bomb at him and Reggie began to cough, he knew he had his brother's attention.

"And what's the point of that?", Reggie asked between coughs. He sounded a little annoyed but that was it.

Delsin gave Reggie a questioning look. He had expected that Reggie would react differently. That he would be angry because of their encounter with Fetch. That he would ask why Delsin hadn't been home earlier. Nothing of that happened. "You looked like you and your thoughts were super far away. I just tried to get your attention you know? Get you out of your little shell and tease you."

"I'm not feeling like it", Reggie leaned back and closed his eyes.

After a few moments Delsin followed suit and sat down next to his brother. "Same here to be honest."

And then both of them just sat there. Staring at the wall as if the wallpaper on it was the most exciting hidden object picture they had ever seen in the last ten or more years. "Delsin.. I'm sorry", the look in his eyes was the most sincere one Delsin had ever seen and what followed, was something he had never expected. "I don't know where my head is at right now. Regarding Fetch and you. She killed people, so have you and yes I'm making two very different judgments when I shouldn't do so. It's not that easy for me to step away from my duty as a cop and today I feel like I pushed you away even further because of what I said."

"Let's talk then", Delsin nudged his brother in a playful manner to lighten the mood at least a little before it would turn serious again. "About what happened, about us and what we're doing here - I hate arguing with you."

"Would you listen to that", his answer came with a small laugh. "Sure doesn't feel like that to me most of the time."

"Sorry for being the black sheep of the family."

Shaking his head Reggie stood up and walked over to the small fridge on the other side of the room. Grabbing two cold bottles of beer, he closed the door and made his way back to the couch. Handing Delsin one of the bottles, the other still in his own hand, he shook his head slightly. "You're not. You're the best little brother one could wish for - I just don't appreciate it enough."