Monday, February 7, 2000; 7:38pm - Hawaii State Highway 19; Honomu, Hawaii

It was amazing out.

The rain had stopped about an hour after sundown, leaving the ground still wet and the air fresh. The temperature probably hovered somewhere around 70 degrees, but in her track shorts and tight tang top, Ana felt like she could run all night. And she and Travis nearly had.

They started when the sun had set, not caring about the rain. They made it to Waikamalo Park, nearly fifteen miles north of Hilo, before turning around and heading back. Normally Ana simply jogged a total of five or ten miles every couple of days. But running with Travis was a competition. How far could they go? Ana tried not think about the fact that they were going to run more than a marathon tonight.

It was purely runner's high that kept Ana going at her current speed while keeping her breathing relatively steady. Travis was in the same condition, but they both knew that if they started talking, they'd be gasping for air before they got half a mile. It was why they were both silent, working to keep their pace. The only sounds around them was the crashes of the stormy waves hitting the reefs and shores not far from where they ran, the rhythmic patter of their shoes as they hit the ground, and the occasional passing car along the highway they jogged along.

Ana's only concern now was actually stopping. Once she stopped, the pain of running as far as they had at a faster pace than she would've liked would come rushing back. That part was never any fun. But for now she felt like she really could run all night. The winter storm, that was bound to continue through the night and for the next couple of days, had dropped the temperature, and the combination of the rain that threatened to fall and the cool ocean breeze always gave her more energy, just like any rainy or stormy day did. Travis had quickly learned that Ana was always restless on stormy days, and he would be required to join her on some ridiculous physical activity, whether it was trying to surf, hiking the volcano, or nearly run a marathon at full speed. While most preferred to curl up indoors and watch movies or read books, Ana wanted to do anything and everything outside. It was the sunny days that made her lethargic.

Most of their run had been uneventful. Until just south of Honomu, outside of one of the brand new, fancy hotels this side of the island. As they prepared to jog across the driveway, a car suddenly flew past without so much as a glance in either direction for other cars or for them. While Ana skidded to a sudden stop, Travis took off at a full sprint, stopping once to snatch a rock. "Watch it, jerk!" he shouted, hurling the rock towards the sleek, black luxury car. Ana laughed as she heard the 'ding', breathing heavily as she shook her head, and Travis jogged slowly back to her. "Tourists," he muttered with an exhausted grin.

"No, newlyweds in their first feud," she replied breathlessly, casting a knowing glance down the driveway. Though brand new, The Palms Cliff House Hotel was known for its small size, cozy privacy, and honeymoon specials.

He chuckled as he stopped in front of her, bending to rest his hands on his knees. "Well, alright. I'm done. We're walking back."

"No! No walking!" Ana exclaimed as she continued to bounce on her toes, fighting the sudden fire that was enveloping her lungs and legs. "Walking back will take all night."

He glanced up. "Like you have anything better to do?" he huffed between breaths with a raised eyebrow and a lazy smirk appearing.

"Are you two alright?" a voice suddenly called off to their side. They both glanced towards the approaching man. Ana stopped bouncing while Travis attempted to stand up straight. The man looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with pale skin, and receding white hair. And his words had a British accent to them.

While Travis glanced north, Ana replied politely as she tried her best not to sound out of breath, "We're fine, sir, thanks."

"I'm terribly sorry about that—"

"Wait, were you driving?" Travis suddenly asked, finally able to stand upright again.

"No, but I'm afraid that I'm responsible for the driver's driving." Travis raised a confused brow as the elder man finally came to a stop only a couple of feet from them. Though he was old, he towered above them both.

"Then don't worry about it. It happens all the time," Travis managed to remark with a lopsided grin, though his eyes still looked confused.

"Well, please allow me to make it up to you. Would you like some supper? Or a ride?"

Travis's eyes alit at the mention of food, but Ana quickly answered, "It's alright, thanks. We'd better get going—"

"Aw, come on, Ana. You said yourself you don't want to walk back." She cast a dangerous glare towards him, but while it might work on most children, Travis brushed it off like it wasn't even an annoying fly. "We could definitely use a ride."

"Of course. Allow me to call a cab for you two," the old man replied as he motioned down the driveway.

Ana looked slightly concerned, and before Travis could take a step forward, she grabbed his elbow. "Travis. We'll be fine."

"Ana, relax. You need to learn to live a little. You can't stay cooped up in your solitary lifestyle forever."

She clenched her jaw. "Travis—"

"Dude, his wife nearly plowed us down with their car. And he's offering us a ride back to Hilo in repayment for seeing our lives flash before our eyes."

"Trav—"

"The least we can do is oblige him." With that he quickly caught up with the elder man, who was already slowly making his way back down the driveway.

Ana fumed, but she hurried to catch up with the pair, limping slightly as her legs already began to ache. Now it was just a matter of finally catching her breath and maybe the fire in her lungs would go away. Maybe.

"So, uh, congratulations," Ana heard Travis tell the man as they passed the halfway point of the drive.

"What for, sir?" the man questioned in confusion.

"Aren't you on your honeymoon?" Ana wanted to facepalm herself since he wasn't within arm's reach.

The elder man chuckled lightly. "Why no, sir. My employer and I are staying here for a few days while our plane is repaired."

Now Ana took longer strides to deliberately catch up and stride along side of Travis to keep him in reach of her arm. "Your plane? You have your own plane?"

"It's more of a jet, but yes, my employer does have his own plane."

Ana didn't need to see Travis's face, she could just imagine it. Jaw ready to hit the ground, eyes wide, confusion replaced with curiosity. Now was one of the times she wished he didn't act like the little kid he was, trapped in a twenty-year-old body. "So, was that your employer in the car?"

"I'm afraid so, sir."

"Oh, my name's Travis. You don't have to call me 'sir,'" Travis suddenly stated.

The elder man smiled as they approached the well-lit hotel. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Travis. I'm afraid calling you 'sir' is just a force of habit. My name is Alfred."

Travis smirked at the new name, apparently liking the sound of it. "Well, it's great to meet you, too, Alfred."

Monday, February 7, 2000; 8:09pm - The Palms Cliff House Inn; Honomu, Hawaii

The entire twenty minutes it took for Alfred to call a taxi from Hilo and wait for it to arrive, Travis continued to ask Alfred questions. But before Ana could entirely restrain him, the elder man seemed to enjoy answering them more than anything. When the taxi actually arrived, they were sitting on the porch just outside of the Palms Cliff House office, listening to Alfred tell them about the time he spent in Egypt. Ana was doing her best to discretely stretch before she regretted it.

"I believe this is your cab, and it is probably best that we don't keep him waiting," Alfred said as he rose from his chair, his kind blue eyes glancing to the idling taxi.

Ana and Travis rose as well—Travis more reluctantly than Ana had ever seen him. "It's been a pleasure, Alfred. And thank you for calling the cab," Ana replied politely, reminding Alfred about the matter of paying the cab driver. He swiftly withdrew his wallet and removed a couple large bills to pay for the taxi, but as he handed them over to Ana, she quickly refused. "Don't worry about it."

Alfred hesitated, and for once Travis didn't say anything. But after a moment, the elder man nodded with a small smile and returned the money to his pocket.

"Yeah, thanks Alfred. I might have to come back some time so you can finish that story. Did you ever find the tomb?" Travis questioned, his green eyes as fascinated as a small child's.

Alfred chuckled. "Well, I'll leave that to your own deciding, Travis."

Travis frowned slightly as Ana couldn't help the smile on her face. "I hope your jet gets repaired soon," Ana continued as the three headed towards the cab.

"Indeed, I do too. Though I would like to invite you both back before that happens. I'm sure Master Wayne would like to meet you both, and I think you two could show him some sights he might actually like."

Travis instantly agreed, but Ana was more hesitant. Sure, she liked Alfred. How could anyone not like him? But her impression of his employer was shaky, at best. After all, he did almost run them over. And he was probably some super rich jerk who made poor Alfred do everything for him. She tried to clear her thoughts; she normally wasn't one to judge. "Maybe—"

"Of course! We come jogging this way all the time," Travis interrupted with a grin, which made Alfred's expression turn to plain amusement.

Ana elbowed Travis before turning towards the taxi, and he quickly followed.

Alfred waved as the taxi turned to drive down the long driveway, but his expression faded just as the taillights did. It would do Bruce some good meeting those two.

Monday, February 7, 2000; 8:28pm - Riverside Apartments; Hilo, Hawaii

The taxi dropped them both off at Ana's apartment complex. Not only was it a shorter drive there, but from there Ana could drive Travis home. Of course, after she fully stretched so she wouldn't be limping around for the next week and after Travis raided her fridge.

"So," Travis began as he flopped down on the couch with both his mouth and hands full of leftover pizza slices. "Don't tell me you didn't like the old dude."

"Of course I liked him, Travis," Ana replied as she stretched her hamstring from the floor, trying to ignore the fact that he was eating her pizza. There were dozens of other things in the fridge—sure, most of them were healthier in comparison to what he was eating now. But he had to eat the pizza.

"Then why don't you want to visit him? Seems like he's gonna get awfully bored, sitting around all day for the next week."

Ana twisted around to glance at Travis, who rose his eyebrows at her. "I'm not going to stop you from seeing him." She switched to another stretch, mumbling under her breath as she did, "If you wanted to see a girl this much, maybe you'd have a girlfriend."

"Hey! Now haven't you ever thought that I'm just biding my time? Waiting for the opportune moment?"

"Nope. I've always thought that you were simply too afraid of commitment, Travis."

His eyes narrowed as he leaned forward on the couch. "Afraid of commitment? Says the girl who has only one friend."

"Nuh—"

"Don't you dare deny it, Ana. You hardly talk to anyone aside from me. What would you do without me?"

She frowned, glad that her stretch was making her face away from him. No, she wasn't a social butterfly, she knew that. Without Travis where would she be? Back to where she was in high school, no doubt. Miserable. Depressed. Just sitting around waiting for things to get better.

"Ha, I'm right, aren't I?" Travis finally said after Ana had remained quiet for a few moments.

In one quick move, Ana was on her feet and striding towards the small kitchen. Travis's jesting quickly turned into a frown as he stood to follow her, abandoning the pizza slices on the small coffee table. "Aw, Ana, don't be like that. I was just messing around."

She just shrugged as she opened the refrigerator to scour for something, anything good to eat/drink.

He set his hand on top of hers as it rested on top of the open door. She paused in her search, glancing from the fridge to his hand to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go there. Besides," he added with that lopsided smile of his, "I've tried that method already. It doesn't work."

She sighed as she stood, sliding her hand out from under his just to ruffle his hair with it. "Yeah, I know you have. Try it with someone else, someone who has less issues, and it just might." She smiled as she grabbed a Mountain Dew before shutting the refrigerator door. "So you want to see Alfred again?" Ana continued as she moved back into the other room.

Travis nodded, but grabbed another slice of pizza from the large box in the fridge before following. "Duh."

"Well, it's 11 miles. Go run there tomorrow," she replied with a grin as she resumed her stretching on the floor.

"Ha." Travis flopped back onto the couch, reaching for one of the other pieces left on the coffee table. "Not funny." He set one slice upside down on the other and shoved them into his mouth. Ana just rolled her eyes and reached for her toes.