*Part 2*

Reality

On the mattress lay a girl, fast asleep. Violet, brown, and black bruised had been sprayed across her body like saturated paint. There was a deep cut on her lip and bandages around her neck. Slashes had been made across her skin. Her eye had been swollen shut. She was skinnier and dirtier than the day Bryan saw her last. It felt so long since he had seen her that he barely recognized her when they met again.

On that day, something nearly fried his brain, causing him to fall on his ass and race his way back to that godforsaken facility. Whatever had reached him, it drew him to that place and more importantly, to her. He found her there, collapsed and beaten with those sadistic assholes escaping before revenge could be exacted for the shit, they put her through. He had to stop chasing them so he could focus on her.

He saw the crate.

He didn't recognize the blonde, but the six other heads bore a striking resemblance to Josie. It didn't take long before the awful truth struck him like a belt across the back.

And now, Bryan sat here in silence, staring at Josie while she slept, a million thoughts racing through his mind. When Josie's eyes fluttered open, she looked far from rested. Dark rings colored the skin under her eyes as they tried taking in her surroundings.

The first thing she spotted was Bryan and he was anxious to see her reaction, feeling the sting of her silent rejection as she stared at him like he was a stranger. It was the look that prevented him from reaching out and touching her. Powers be dammed. Instead, he only greeted her with a flippant wave that hid his actual emotions.

Behind him, Zafina the self-righteous bitch slithered towards Josie, worry written all over her face. "By the gods. You look like you're doing better."

Josie wasn't happy or displeased by her presence, staring at her as if she was looking at an alien. Bryan almost smiled at the thought of that if not for the fact that it implied something sinister in its wake.

"I am? …Where am I?" Josie asked, her voice faint and lacking any energy or life. She seemed to spot Lei in the background, not reacting when he waved at her. Furthermore, her question seemed to only worry Zafina more who stood up, swallowing hard to hide her feelings over the matter.

"…You will understand in time. Just…relax and I'll get you something to eat," the slithering bitch moved to the kitchen. Josie didn't react, however, staring at the window absentmindedly. It was strange looking at her without her distinct red bow or her talking a storm about her experiences in life. It almost felt like a different person.

"Can you feel something off from me?" Bryan asked, wanting to see how great this change in Josie was. She turned her head, her eyes as unfeeling as before. It wasn't like she hated him, Bryan concluded. It was as if she had become completely null.

"No," she shook her head.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

Fucking hell. She had forgotten everything. The time they spent together had been thrown into the void. It stung knowing that the one person whom he cared about forgot him.

"Do you know who you are?"

"…No."

So, Josie had not just forgotten about Bryan, Lei, and his mule but also the person she herself was. It continued to sting.

From the kitchen, Zafina came slithering, chiding Bryan like an overbearing mother. "Do not push her beyond her limits. Your selfishness knows no bounds. After everything she has been through, you still try to impose on her like she's your guinea pig. When I told you to leave her alone, I expect you to at least have the common courtesy to care about her safety."

Bryan didn't need to hear her moral superiority or her acting like Josie meant nothing to him. He had listened to it from the second they found her again. Zafina knew nothing and yet here she was trying to act as she did.

"Shut. Up. Shut the fuck up. Keep that fat fucking mouth of yours shut or I'll rip out your tongue and shove it down your throat," he growled, resisting the urge to splatter her brains all over the nearest wall. He had to shove his hands down his pocket lest he wrapped them around her neck and snapped it like a twig. He couldn't stand this fucking bitch and her lessons.

"Your threats are meaningless. Crude aggression does not frighten me. If you wish to fight me, you can. Do not expect me to show mercy. If anything ridding her of you would be beneficial for all. Now leave." she had said that with the utmost sincerity, her voice low and dangerous.

A wave of cold fury washed over Bryan. The only kind, certain people could bring out of him. It was the one, he could barely control no matter how powerful it was. Zafina must have seen the murderous intent in his eyes, as she cowered a little, despite the smug look on her ugly fucking face.

"Would you guys stop? This isn't helping anyone!" Lei interjected, then sighed. He passed the two of them and made his way to Josie, kneeling in front of her.

"Josie, you don't remember me but I'm a friend of yours. So are those two. As you can see, they're not friends with each other."

If she thought anything of this or the revelation of her name, it wasn't apparent. For a moment, she just sat there, silently pondering Lei's words before she pulled the blanket away and tried to stand up, almost collapsing from her numerous injuries. Before she fell to the floor, Zafina slithered to her side, grabbing her by the shoulders to ease her back onto the mattress.

"You are in no condition to be wandering about. Please take it easy. Rest and unwind," Zafina stroked her hair, trying to make her lay down again. There was not a single reaction from Josie upon feeling bare hands touch her.

Whatever had happened in there, had done something to her powers and now, everyone could freely touch her. Had all been well, Bryan could imagine she'd be so happy. But as it stood, he doubted she even remembered that wish. Zafina headed back to the kitchen with Lei in tow as they discussed the situation at hand, leaving Bryan to watch over Josie, who didn't fall asleep, instead staring at the ceiling with an empty, blank expression.

"Let's go for a ride," he said, and she turned to him, still expressionless at that offer. At this point, Bryan figured that being in familiar environments might jog her memory but there was a long way back to her home and he didn't have the patience for Zafina's fuckery, never mind the tracker embedded in his skin.

He reached out his hand, somewhat elated when he felt Josie's soft fingers brush against the palm of his open fist. Slowly, he helped her stand, supporting her away from the mattress. From the kitchen came Zafina, a deep scowl permeating her very punchable face.

"What are you doing?!" she jeered, moving to the entrance of the house to block the exit.

"Relax, lady. I'm just giving her some fresh air. We'll be back before noon," he groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

That didn't make the bitch move. Bryan had hoped not to punch the living daylights out of her today because that would only cause a massive shitshow, no matter how satisfying the idea of it was. And with him choosing to watch over an injured Josie, he had better things to do than to pick a fight with some ghoul. Yet underneath this shell, there was a looming weird feeling over not succumbing to his violent urges and impulses for the sake of someone else.

It was weird caring about someone else in the first place.

During life under law enforcement, Bryan simply feigned concern and cordiality with people while having fun in the underground crime world. Now, he didn't need to play both sides and still, he stood here with someone, who through their road trip, began to mean a hell of a lot to him.

Positive feelings, positive relationships, they were strange and alien…but Bryan began to like the way, they made him feel. Warm all over and calm. He felt like himself when with Josie because she, above all else, accepted him. She worried about him.

Or at least the Josie he knew.

It was for that reason, this entire situation made him want to burn a city to the ground. Not from enjoyment as he usually would but out of anger and something he hadn't felt in years; guilt.

"I think you should let him have this one, Zafina," Lei quipped from his safe distance beyond the conflict. Without a word, Zafina slithered away, sending Bryan one final glare as if she was bitter over her defeat. Good. It wasn't as satisfying as breaking her teeth, but he'd take this win.

The air was beyond uncomfortable in the car, with the looming silence and nothing to break it but the stupid radio and fucking pop music. Josie had not said a single word, nor had she looked at Bryan, opting to stare out the window as cars zoomed them by and the sky was clad in gray clouds.

At first, Josie's tales about everything and nothing annoyed Bryan but eventually, he came to enjoy it, even if he tuned it out half the time until they ended up having full-on conversations about the adventures of her life. With all of that gone, he suddenly felt himself off balance and maybe even a little lonely.

"…You're not curious about where we're going?" Bryan finally asked, shifting his gaze between Josie and the somewhat empty road. She shook her head but never looked at him. And then nothing but silence and the radio blaring irrelevant news. Finally, the car drove off the main road and down a smaller path that led to the beach, eventually rolling to a stop in the dusty sand.

Bryan hated beaches. The itchy sand when rocks weren't there to make walking a pain, the fucking stench, annoying seagulls. He hated all of it. But he reckoned Josie quite liked them, remembering a tale she once told of a beach photoshoot where she was barred from bathing after work. She had shown Bryan the pictures then and that white bikini didn't leave much to the imagination. He remembered that she looked so embarrassed and they never mentioned it again.

"…Got any funny tales? Like the one where one of your-" he stopped himself before he could bring up the reminder that Josie had a family once. "Boss ate a shit-ton of food coloring and shat blue for three days?"

She shook her head again, staring at the open ocean. Maybe some fresh air would do her some good. After all, she had been cooped up in that white hellhole for weeks. While Bryan went against his dislike of places like these and left the car, Josie hesitated, eventually standing out on the white sand, and walking to the edge of the water. She hadn't put on any shoes; all of her belongings were at the safe house, thus the water rushed over her feet, over and over again as she walked alongside the edge.

It stung to watch her like this, her of all people. An emotion, which Bryan had become intimately familiar with through his years of life and death, washed over him like a tidal wave. It was his namesake, his soulmate, powerful enough to override the guilt and melancholy; fury.

He hid it pretty well, simply following behind Josie at a comfortable distance with his hands clenched in the depths of his pockets. But it proved too hard to keep going like this or cull the deep frown from his face. He must have looked quite scary, with his scars and sullen look since Josie abruptly stopped and turned around to look at him.

"What?" he narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to make of her expression.

"I felt something just now from you," she said, sounding as puzzled as she looked. It was the most amount of emotion, she had shown since their reunion.

"You have that special power to pick up emotions and shit from people. You used to hate it," he shrugged, trying to appear normal. On the inside, however, was a shining beacon of joy; a faint hope of the Josie he knew returning.

"…Right," she mused, then turned around, continuing on her way with no goal. Bryan had to chew the inside of his cheek, a flurry of thoughts running through his mind, all marred with bitterness. Josie's powers remained. She could touch people now at least but most of all, she just wanted those powers gone and yet they remained. Those bastards whom she believed could help her, had done nothing but hurt her. And Bryan had been the one to give her to them.

How ironic.

How absolutely, honest to God fucking tragic.

The fury vanished and guilt killed it. Bryan hated this feeling, regardless of the fact that he undoubtedly deserved it. He should feel shitty for this. For it was his fault, and it would continue to be his fault if he didn't do something to fix it. But-

"Did you say something?" Josie's voice cut through his thoughts, and he stopped, blinking. Had he said anything? Bryan wasn't one to utter nonsense under his breath; if he wanted to bitch and moan, people would hear it. But now, he was certain that he had remained silent. All the screaming and degrading voices kept themselves confined to his head.

"No. What did you hear?"

"Dammit. I fucking hate this. I don't know how to fix this. Fuck it. Fuck it all," Josie recited without a moment's hesitation and he suddenly felt so exposed in her presence.

She wasn't one for swearing and those words sounded very much like something coming out of Bryan's mouth when he was pissed. Or in this case, they had been floating around in his head, which meant that she had used his powers to read his thoughts, unknowingly. An idea began to form in Bryan's head, fueled by his curiosity.

"Could you try to use your powers on me? I'll be your whipping boy for the day," he removed his hands from his pockets, already feeling like his fingers were getting tainted by the ocean air. Josie kept staring at him, closing her eyes for a moment.

During their travels, Bryan came to find that he could never feel her powers going off. Not even when she touched him. In a weird sense, there was probably some level of twisted exchange. For her, it was the pain. For the other person, it was an invasion of one's memories.

But now, if his own theories about her powers served him right, she could invade and read minds, without even having to touch someone. It was as cool as it was scary. Bryan was glad that Josie and Zafina didn't end up switching powers; the mule would never leave him alone if she could read minds as well.

"I feel a lot of things from you. Guilt, anger, regret, sorrow. I see memories too. I see that I liked you a lot," Josie opened her eyes again, apathetic. Sounded about right. Stung hard too.

Liked. Past tense.

It hurt. The pain from that startled Bryan for a moment. He knew what it was; plain, old heartache. It was natural that the person he liked the most, would also be the one to cut the deepest wounds. Relationships and feelings were fickle and brittle, he had come to realize that as he felt their edges slice his chest open. To destroy was much easier than to feel but chaos didn't fill him with warmth as Josie did.

And now, it was all over. He'd be happy if she regained her old self as well but that didn't mean she'd forgive him.

"Ah, well I guess you were bound to find out," he said, not able to hide his bitterness. An acidic taste spread in his mouth as he watched her gather her hands, still staring at him. In the dull daylight, she looked so sickly. The bruises didn't help.

For a moment, Bryan blinked, and it was all it took before a shockwave rushed through his mind, blackening his vision for what felt longer than a second. It occurred to him upon regaining lucidity that he was laying on the sand, staring into the cloudy sky. In the distance, gray clouds were approaching. He almost found himself getting lost in their movements if a gust of wind didn't blow sand into his face.

"That's one hell of a brain scramble. I guess that's how I found you – because you pulled me in," he jumped to his feet, dusting himself clean from the wretched sand. Great, some of it managed to get into his boot. She grimaced, putting a hand against her temple. Slowly she began to walk away from him, and he only faintly heard; "My head hurts…"

From where they stood, one could spot a small grotto. It also happened to be where the beach was the rockiest. Walking there barefoot was a thoroughly bad idea and Bryan was about to call out to Josie when she stepped on the first row of rocks. It didn't bother and she continued deeper inside, eventually vanishing behind rocky walls.

Dammit, Bryan cursed to himself, heading to the grotto to see what the hell she was doing. He wasn't sure what he expected when he ventured inside, spotting Josie sitting in the dark with her arms around her body.

"Stay still on rippling water…" she mumbled, her voice grainy.

"You okay?" he asked, alarmed when she didn't respond. When he came closer to her, he noticed she was trembling.

"Stay s-s-still…!" she stammered, her voice hoarse. By now, Bryan stood within an arm's distance, letting his hand touch her shoulder.

"Hey-" he was cut off by Josie throwing herself away from him.

"No! Don't touch me!" she shrieked, running past him until she tripped, falling over herself. Hastily, she turned around and crawled backward until she stood up. The look on her face was a mix of fear and anger. Hysteria and sorrow. It pained him to have her of all people look at him like that. Of all the people that had ever given him that glare, it had to be her. But more worryingly, what caused Josie to react like this? She took two steps back, the closer he came to her.

"Josie-"

Without a word, she pulled a sharp rock from the ground, pointing it directly at him. Her eyes were shiny from the tears that welled up, and her gaze was wild, confused even. Whatever was on her mind, she clearly shifted from her numb self.

For one, she wouldn't point a rock at him, knowing that he could probably shatter the thing with one hand. Furthermore, she wouldn't look at him as she did now. The loving, kind, carefree Josie had been replaced by a husk, and from its hull came this wounded girl, who struck out after the world had abused her one too many times. Whatever the doctor had done to her, it had fucked her up.

"He s-s-said that you put me there on purpose. To kill my family. You two worked together to kill my f-family. He said you killed them! Why? Why?!" her voice was shrill, trembling like the rest of her body.

"What?" Bryan blinked, halting when she pointed the sharp end of the rock at her neck. The tip was pricking her skin, causing a trail of blood to run down her skin and blend into her shirt. Dammit! Bryan had to think fast and say something. One mistake and she no doubt would slit her own throat. The last thing he wanted was her in any more pain, never mind her dead. He took a deep breath, trying to comprehend his thoughts on what to say next.

"…If I'd known Dr. Abel was involved, I wouldn't have taken you there. I worked with him in the past, sure but he's a piece of shit. Now put that rock-"

Crap. He shouldn't have said that. Josie's eyes widened and fury marred her expression now.

"You worked with him. He said you planned everything. You used me, you used my family and I allowed it because I loved you."

It stung. Every word, she spoke stung. Negotiation and hostage discussions were so much easier when Lei did it and Bryan just had to kick down doors. A desperate situation like this was nothing new but it was something else when he actually cared for the people involved.

"Wait!" he found himself nearly panicking when she almost pressed the rock deeper into her skin. "I didn't sacrifice two limbs or tell you to run away if shit went to hell in a handbasket just to fuck with you!"

He felt like a prisoner pleading for his innocence. No doubt this was what the wrongly convicted felt when they were put behind bars. Closing his eyes for a bit, he tried to gather himself, trying to gather some of those people skills, Lei so often employed. He failed but tried anyway. "I didn't plan on…liking you. It wouldn't benefit me. I could have kept my distance during all of this because you traveled with me regardless. I came back to you because…you know why."

"But-but…" Josie stammered, slowly pulling the rock from her neck. Bryan took a step closer, relieved to see her disposition falter.

"What the doctor said to you about me, it's all horseshit. You just have to look at the left side of my body as proof."

She trembled beyond control, tears pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks. By now he stood in front of her, close enough to let his hands fall over hers.

"Put it down. It's okay. You're not his plaything," he pried the rock out of her grasp and threw it to the ground. Josie could only weep loudly, collapsing into his arms.

"You're not alone," he tightened his embrace, stroking her hair to ease her. It felt weird comforting others. His hands were made for death and destruction, not for the benefit of living creatures. He didn't mean for this change to happen. He hadn't imagined it would end like this. But here he was, and he didn't regret it.

"I know it feels like that but you're not. There're people out there who like you a lot. Lei, Zafina, Yoshi, Doctor Boschinovitch…me. Anyway, I got your back."

Josie went limp in his arms, and he looked over to see how deeply she had cut herself. It was when he noticed another scar on the other side of her neck. Bryan tried not to let anger rule his actions, not when he was holding her like this. The red bandana around his arm was used to contain the wound and he lifted her, carrying her still body to the car and driving off.

It seemed that using her powers again caused her memories and old self to return but the stress of Doctor Abel's experiments caused her to have a mental breakdown. The very suggestion of what happened made Bryan tighten his grip around the steering wheel of the car as it drove off, his mood descending further.

When, not if he found the doctor again, he would make sure that man was truly dead and buried. Bryan probably should have chased after him when he crashed the facility; he sure as hell wanted to, seeing that old man leave in that helicopter with a smug smile as he flew away to wherever. But Bryan couldn't because Josie lay collapsed by his feet next to the disembodied heads of her family and probably the only scientist who treated her with a slither of respect.

"What happened…?" Josie's voice called out, dazed and weak. When he turned to look at her, she was barely awake and even paler. She looked sick and frail, and Bryan hated the wounded look in her eyes.

"…You had a bit of an episode. Don't worry 'bout it," he took the road to the safe house, rolling the car to a stop.

She sobbed, slowly and tentatively as if she regretted something she had no control over. "I'm sorry. I get it if you're sick of me. I'm sick of me too."

"Save the sorry. You've been through a lot. It takes more than this to break my patience," he leaned over the steering wheel, considering how he could best comfort her. It was at times like these that he wished his mother hadn't been murdered so she could have shown him affection and passed that basic skill onto him. Not even some of his father's whores could do the deed.

"So, I take it you got your memories back now," he said, and she nodded with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"…Yeah. All of them, including my childhood," she said with such heartache, lowering her head somewhat. Her hair had grown long enough to cover part of her face when she did that. Without really thinking about it, Bryan brushed some of it away and she responded to it, taking his hand, and holding it against her cheek. No bloody nose, no headaches. Just the soft sobs of a young woman who needed to catch a break.

Bryan remembered he had retrieved his dog tags when raiding the facility and fished them out of his pocket to put them around her neck. Her eyes glowed at this and for the first time in what felt like a very long time, she smiled genuinely.

It was at that moment he realized that he would have to leave her.