Lucas didn't consider the Land Rover an upgrade. He continued to stare at the Fiat below the cliff but accepted Adrian's attempt at consoling him anyway.

Adrian pulled his hand back, now stained with blood. "You're bleeding," he said with wide eyes.

Lucas looked down at his arms, which were an unsightly mess of dirt and blood. He grew dizzy and his knees buckled.

"I'm taking you to a doctor." Adrian placed Lucas' arm around him and hoisted him up. He grumbled in protest, but Adrian had already positioned him in the front passenger seat. Adrian ran out to the road, collected their luggage and threw it in the back, and returned to buckle himself and Lucas into their seats.

"Here," Adrian handed him a bottle of water. When he drank the water, Lucas felt a strange tingling—almost crawling—sensation down his throat. He also had a splitting headache.

Adrian turned the ignition on and began to move the vehicle in reverse.

"Hang on, do you drive?" Lucas asked.

"Now I do," Adrian replied resolutely.

He was about to protest, but fatigue pulled him into an uneasy sleep. Wandering thoughts became dreams, and he drifted between the two states. He dreamt of the Fiat sitting on the rocks, partially submerged in sea water. His grandfather had left him the car when the old man moved back to Italy more than a decade ago. Lucas had promised to visit him, but never did and he had passed away. Regret hung heavy in his heart.

He could see the car vividly in his mind's eye. Birds perched on the roof top, the tides rose and fell around it, and the paint peeled away to reveal a skeletal metal frame. The ocean air, like vultures, ate away at the metal frame until it was pockmarked and resembled the rocks it was nestled in with, leaving behind an artefact overlooked by the indifferent currents of time.

Lucas woke up with a jolt.

"We're here." Adrian placed a hand on his shoulder.

They were in the parking lot of a small clinic. The building's exterior was stained with mold and weeds grew on the roof.

"How long was I asleep?" Lucas yawned, noticing a blanket draped on him that wasn't there before

"About an hour," Adrian replied while rubbing his neck. The dashboard blinked 1:05 PM. The air was noticeably cooler, and Adrian had a trench coat on which also covered up the bloodstains on his collar. His facial injuries had already begun to clear up: the bruises and swelling had faded, and the scab on his bottom lip was the only remnant of their ordeal.

"You heal quickly," Lucas commented. Without thinking, he reached for Adrian's chin, his thumb just barely brushing the scab. It was fascinating. How did his skin resolve the inflammatory phase in less than an hour?

When he felt Adrian's shaky breaths on his skin, he came to his senses and withdrew his hand. His ears burned red, and they avoided eye contact as they made their way inside the clinic.

Adrian refused to get examined and instead hung behind in the waiting room, burying his nose in a secondhand Jorge Luis Borges book. Lucas looked like he had walked out of a horror movie—that called the attention of the staff fairly quickly, and so he was immediately ushered into the doctor's office.

"What brings you here?" the doctor asked, flipping through a clipboard. She had curly hair and looked about his age. She raised an eyebrow at his arms. "Those are nasty."

"Do they have to be amputated?" Lucas joked.

The doctor grinned. "We'll just have to find out. What happened?"

"I jumped out of a moving car. Attempted kidnapping. Long story."

There were no follow-up questions.

A nurse cleaned and disinfected his wounds, and it stung like crazy. A local anaesthetic was administered and the doctor sutured his wounds shut. He didn't feel pain but he could sense that his skin was being sewn shut; he looked away the entire time. The right arm noticeably took longer to sew up because of that damn grappling hook.

"Is the guy reading the book with you?" the doctor asked.

"You could tell?"

"People here don't wear trench coats. Is he here for a check-up?"

"No, he's jittery around doctors. But he's okay as far as I know."

"Too bad. He's kind of cute."

After the awkward exchange, the doctor bandaged his wounds and gave him care instructions, and told him to return in a week to have the stitches removed.

Adrian was too engrossed in his book to notice that Lucas was back in the waiting room.

"I think the doctor has a crush on you," Lucas grinned.

Adrian groaned and made his exit.

Lucas chuckled as he trailed after him, and noticed a new dent on the Land Rover. He wondered how he could buy some time before being subjected to Adrian's driving again.

He asked Adrian to help him change into a clean shirt, which took longer than usual because pulling shirts off and on was challenging with his injuries. After that task was accomplished, he accepted inevitable: Adrian was back on the wheel. As the car drifted in and out of the lane, Lucas was glad that there were few cars on the road. He didn't comment since things were still a bit tense, so he coped by trying to sleep. When a diner came into view, he exhaled in relief.

Lucas silently noticed that their car was parked at an angle and over the line. A no-name gasoline station sat beside the diner; a sandwich board advertised complementary coffee with every lunch meal or full tank of gas. As they walked in, the chimes on the door announced their entrance.

Daytime drama played on a TV in the corner, the chairs were covered in a hideous geometric patterned fabric, and the decor looked like time had stopped in the 1980s. However, time did not stop for its patrons, as they appeared to be pushing eighty. The seniors took up a third of the booths, and nursed their empty cups for who knows how long. Nevertheless, the disapproving looks they gave Lucas' bandaged arms, the smashed side mirror of the Land Rover, and the grappling hook on top suggested that their eyesight was still keen.

They took the booth by the window and he sat opposite Adrian. The middle-aged waitress took their order: empanadas and quiche for Adrian, steak and fries for Lucas. Complementary coffee was served. The anaesthetic made grasping the mug awkward but he didn't care. After the drama of the last twenty-four hours, the coffee tasted like the best thing brewed on this mortal plane. He was too tired to feel the effects of the caffeine, but it was still worth savouring.

Adrian sipped his coffee. "Will you head back?"

Lucas choked on his drink.

"So that's a no." Adrian frowned.

"Why do I feel like you don't want me around?" Lucas strangled a reply.

"I'm just worried."

"That I'll mess up?"

"No. Just worried about you."

They both looked away. Their dishes arrived and they ate in silence. The anaesthetic hadn't worn off and it made slicing through the overcooked steak a chore, so Lucas did it stiffly and mostly used his left hand. He felt self-conscious, sensing Adrian's gaze bearing down on him. Thoughts swirled in his head about all the times Cybersix had asked him to stay away. Things had turned out okay, but only this time he wasn't so sure; self-doubt gnawed at his insides and the steak wasn't smothering it fast enough.

"I found something interesting," Adrian said, changing the subject.

He relaxed a bit. "Yeah?"

Adrian pulled out some papers from his trench coat and spread them out on the table. "These were in the glove compartment."

There were two aerial pictures of Meridiana's lighthouse park, before the Isle of Doom explosion and the after. The post-explosion picture had a grid superimposed on it with entire sections marked out.

"They were searching for you too," Lucas said. Adrian nodded, and then unfolded a large map of the country. It revealed key trucking routes and storage locations that stretched out to two urban centers, to the north and south of Meridiana.

Lucas' eyes widened. "I thought you said that Merdiana is the only city they're in."

"I did."

"So they're expanding?"

"They're expanding the area of sustenance delivery, at least."

"These look very detailed though," Lucas scratched his head. "Do you think that they're already storing sustenance in these places?"

Adrian nodded.

"But why?"

"I have no idea. And that bothers me." Adrian said grimly.

Lucas chewed on the last of his steak while entertaining theories in his mind, already holding back on the silliest ones. It was funny how he had slowly changed to impress his friend.

He snuck a peek across the table, and Adrian looked out the window while deep in thought. Adrian's chin rested against a palm, his silhouette casting a shadow in the afternoon light. The sharp angles of his face was balanced by a softness to the features: perfectly combining masculine and feminine. No wonder why he was pleasing to the eye as either gender.

Physical beauty aside, Lucas was drawn to his eyes. As Cybersix, her eyes had a vulnerability that was compelling, and it came from both the strength and sadness of knowing too much. That look was hidden more carefully when he was Adrian, and instead it was guarded by a distance that Lucas wanted to close. He yearned to see what was hidden beneath the surface, even if it contained a world of experience that was mysterious and out of his depth.

"What is it?" Adrian asked.

He froze as he was caught staring.

Adrian gave a knowing grin, but the television caught their attention. Somehow it was changed to the 24 hour national news channel, and a headline flashed on the news ticker: An Entire Village Abducted?

The footage showed a male reporter in a blue windbreaker walking around a village, showing how it was completely deserted of people. He opening door after door to reveal empty houses, establishments, and churches. Only the farm animals were left behind; cows and horses roamed the streets freely.

"That place sounds familiar," Adrian said, searching the map. He then pointed to a place about half a day's drive south, just maybe an hour detour from the national highway. The map indicated that there were storage locations there as well.

"Wanna check it out?" Lucas asked, stifling a yawn.

"Yes. Hopefully the media will be gone by then."

The news program showed more footage: confused and inarticulate truckers, crying relatives who lived elsewhere, a woman spouting nonsense about aliens, government officials refusing to make comments. Nothing useful.

"Why would they kidnap humans?" Adrian murmured.

Lucas felt his eyes drooping. "I'm beat. I'm leaving the theories for tomorrow," he stretched and asked for the bill.

This time Adrian paid for all of it, and left behind a generous tip.

"Not like I can use it when I'm dead," Adrian shrugged.

To their luck, there were budget accommodations just a few blocks away from the diner, probably meant for desperate travelers just like them. A little old lady ran a general store at the front while furnished rooms lined the back. It was probably unlicensed, but they didn't care. Twin beds, a private bathroom, and a door that locked—it was adequate. Adrian hauled their luggage in and Lucas shut out the afternoon sun by drawing the curtains shut, its cheap polyester smelling of old cigarette smoke.

He collapsed on to the nearest bed, not even bothering to change out of his clothes or crawl into the sheets. Apparently his relatively wakeful state in the diner was the caffeine kick, and it had left him drained.

"When do they need to be changed?" Adrian asked while he took off his shirt, facing away from Lucas. Through his half-lidded eyes, he could dimly see Adrian pulling off his binder but Lucas was too out of it to even react.

"Change what?" Lucas mumbled.

"Your bandages."

Lucas said something but he couldn't even remember what. The pull of sleep was too strong. Adrian changed into pajamas and sat on the other bed, contemplating something. Time passed. Lucas drifted in and out of sleep, and thought that he had gone to the bathroom to wash up when it turned out to be just a dream. He dreamt of Cybersix lying beside him, certainly not for the first time, because he was a lonely man and her mere physical presence already meant so much to him.

Then he felt her lips press against his.

It would've been a dream if it weren't for the pain shooting up his arms.

"Sorry," Adrian mumbled, adjusting her weight. She, or he, wasn't wearing her eyeglasses and her hair was down, so she looked somewhere between Adrian and Cybersix. She was lying beside him, much to his confusion.

"What—" Lucas began, and was shut up by another kiss.

Her lips were as soft as Lucas last remembered, but this time she smelled of coffee and musty books instead of rain and latex. It was familiar and comforting. Her hands roamed across Lucas' wide shoulders and down his broad chest, and sighed into the kiss. He couldn't tell if he was kissing Cybersix or Adrian—somehow it felt like both. The boundaries between the two identities had melted away, and he felt like as if Adrian was shifting between the two roles and their genders.

Lucas came to his senses and sat up to reciprocate the kiss properly. With his tongue, he nudged Adrian's mouth open and he let Lucas in. His senses were electrified, as if Adrian were the source of the charge. He tasted of salt and coffee, and there was also a metallic aftertaste, which made the hairs on Lucas' neck stand on edge. Lucas kissed his cheek, his jaw, and savoured the feel of his cool skin. Adrian shuddered at the contact. Lucas didn't care where he came from, he just wanted to hold him for eternity.

Adrian in turn, wrapped his arms around Lucas' neck and pulled himself to his lap. His body was slender relative to Lucas', yet Lucas slowly relished the feel of the lean muscles that went down his back and the subtle hourglass shape of his figure. Before he knew of Adrian's true identity, he had assumed that his friend was scrawny, and now he realized that the oversized shirts and sweaters were designed to hide the build of an athlete. Adrian's hands were all over—in his hair, up his shirt, down his back—frantically grasping and searching and taking as if they were in their final moments.

"Slow down," Lucas murmured against her chest. Her breaths were quick but her pulse was unnaturally slow. She was disorienting, both familiar and alien. A bead of sweat snaked down her chest, and it tasted acrid like smoke—it was a stark reminder of her unusual origins. A chill shot down his spine, as if his instincts were telling him that none of this were natural.

There was a pause.

"This was a mistake," Adrian whispered, pulling back.

Lucas took her hand in his. "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't feel right to you, does it?" she stroked Lucas' cheek.

Lucas leaned into the touch. "It's different, but we can make it work."

"It's not the same," she shook her head.

He brushed her hair back. "Tell me what I can do."

She looked up at him and gave a sad smile. "There's nothing you can do. It's me… it's this. It's not how it should be."

When she grew silent, he lifted her chin with a finger and looked into her eyes. "Tell me what you're thinking," he said softly.

Adrian took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "I'm thinking about how I've tried to keep myself away from you, but I couldn't—it's been so lonely," her voice was raw with emotion. "But when we're close, the more I see what could've been if I wasn't born wrong. Maybe I could've had a normal life with you, I don't know."

His heart ached. "I still want to be with you."

"But I feel like… as if I were a blind man in the Library of Alexandria—all the knowledge of the ancient world open to me if only I were different. It's wondrous, but it fills me with despair."

Lucas didn't know what to say, so he just leaned his forehead against hers and threaded their fingers together.

"I'm sorry for bringing you into this mess, Lucas. I hope that explains why I don't know how to act around you."

"Yeah well, I chose to enter this mess."

"I hope you find someone less complicated: human, just one gender, and not involved with Nazi scientists," Adrian commented dryly. "I told you that Cybersix woman was dangerous business."

"None of those had been deal breakers so far," he replied.

"Just impending death, I suppose," Adrian frowned. Lucas felt a shift in his friend—Adrian composed his expression and the boundaries settled back in place. Adrian untangled himself from Lucas' form, and stood to buttoned up his top. Lucas found himself missing his weight already.

"This has been confusing—I'll need some more space," Adrian said coolly.

Lucas felt disappointed, and his headache returned. He drifted back to sleep, and did the best he could to stay grounded—to keep himself from thinking too much about futures that could never be, or from dreaming about lives that were to remain unlived.

Author's Note 2018/02/12:

Not gonna lie, I love this chapter. I was in The Zone. This is my jam, fam. I'm taking a Canadian animated series/Argentine comic book from 20+ years ago and turn it into my weirdo version of neo-noir because this is my idea of a love letter to the original creators. I try to write in a way that's canon-complaint but takes the characters in surprising directions just to mix things up a bit and screw with some fandom tropes because why not.

Part of what excites me about this fanfic is taking Cybersix/Adrian out of the status quo in Meridiana and seeing how s/he deals with her/his personal struggles that way. No easy sustenance fix for our protag. I just hope you're having as much fun reading it as I am writing it. There's around 5 more chapters to go.

Anyway, I try to write fanfic with enough background info that you can get into it without being super familiar with the source material. So if any of you are inclined to read a very different kind of romance trope destroyer, I have a completed Rurouni Kenshin fic called Strangers in a Tempest that takes place in a deserted tropical island during World War II because Why The Heck Not. I wrote it like eight years ago but I'm still pretty proud of it, and I'm happy that I'm back to writing fiction fairly regularly. Okay plug over, stay tuned and feel free to chat with me on Tumblr fridakitsch.

Til next month,

Frida