Bauk Squad

by The Lonely Curator

After the success of Chimera Squad, Jane Kelly has decided to start a new team. But where Chimera is Reclamation's poster child, Bauk Squad is there to give criminals something to fear. Boogey men hunting them from the shadows. And in City 79, where the crime syndicates have become exceedingly dangerous, Bauk has been deployed to root out these criminals. Any way they can.

9. Mother

When Aisha awoke, she wasn't expecting to see light dappling in through the window above her head. It wasn't bright enough to bother or completely rouse her from her tired state. But it was enough that she realized it was far later than she had wanted it to be. She debated getting up immediately, finding her current position incredibly comfortable, her tail splayed about underneath the heavy comforter without a care as to how much space she took up. But the memories of last night and her foolishness around Jonathan returned, filling her with a burst of energy as she sat up.

The viper began to remove herself from the bed, planning on silently retreating from Jonathan's home without him noticing when something gave her pause. She could hear faint noise coming from down the hall. It sounded like music, but it was so quiet that she wondered if it was from a different apartment and not Jonathan's. She gathered her things, continuing to listen to try and figure out the source. But the sound that sealed her understanding that it was from the Reaper's apartment was not the music, but the sounds of cooking wear being moved.

She flicked her tongue out, smelling and almost tasting the hints of food being prepared. Some manner of salted meat taunted her and her empty stomach. She shook her head, finished with collecting her things from the nightstand and preparing herself mentally to finally exit the room. She planned to just move past the Reaper silently. She would only engage with him enough to politely thank him for housing her for the evening and then leave. She still needed to return to her own home to eat, shower, and get a new set of clothes before heading back to meet with the rest of Bauk. And Jonathan needed to rest. She didn't want to get in his way any further than she already had. She hoped those reasons would be more than enough for him to not question her rapid retreat.

She opened the door, taking in a deep breath and beginning to move down the hall towards the noise. As she drew closer, she could hear the music more clearly, a style she was entirely unfamiliar with was coming from a speaker on a countertop in the kitchen. And deep within the cooking area, bobbing his head while stirring something in a large pan, was Jonathan, surprisingly without his Reaper coat on. He was humming along with the singer, whose words she could not understand. Not because it was a different language, but because the voice was incredibly gravely, almost like he wasn't human.

Coupled with the heavy drums and guitar playing in the background, Aisha was left incredibly confused as to what the style of music Jonathan was listening to. It was like nothing she had ever heard before. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but it was certainly strange. She stood there awkwardly, watching the Reaper as he continued to work on whatever he was cooking, rocking on his feet and bouncing his head up and down with varying levels of intensity. She almost wanted to try and sneak past to leave him to his own devices. But that option was cast away when he finally noticed her out of the corner of his eye, spinning around to face her and freezing on the spot.

They stared at each other for a short while until Jonathan waved at her and gave a goofy smile. "Mornin'," he said, his voice sounding less strained and hurt, but still a far cry from his usual, chipper tone.

"Good morning, Jonathan," she said, bowing her head slightly. "I see you are feeling much better."

"Loads," he responded with a smile. "Iced my neck this morning and took an anti-inflammatory pill. So I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered."

She nodded, looking to his unusually exposed neck, noticing that the bruising had begun forming in earnest, creating smears of dark black, blue, and purple coloring that left his neck ugly and difficult to look at without wincing. "The pain is not troubling you?" she asked, thoughtlessly moving closer to him so she could more easily assess the area.

He shook his head, pulling down the collar on his shirt slightly to give her an easier view. "Nah. So long as I don't touch it or think about it too hard, it's not bad at all. Does it look bad? Looked a little dark this morning, but surprisingly ok."

Her face twisted into a slight frown. "Well... I am glad it does not hurt. But it certainly looks terrible. Not surprising, given how you got it. But I would expect this to last for at least two weeks, if not longer."

Now it was his turn to frown. "And there's no way to just make it go away faster?"

"Are you familiar with the R.I.C.E method when it comes to bruises?" she asked him, leaning forward and flicking her tongue near his neck, not noticing how he tensed up and swallowed at her close proximity.

"N-Nope," he stuttered shyly.

"Rest, ice, compress, elevate. Fairly self-explanatory. While it will not cure you overnight, it will help make the healing process much smoother for you. But it will not make the bruising go away faster, I am afraid." She rose back up, offering a warm smile.

"Guess I might need that turtleneck after all, huh?" he teased, raising an eyebrow at her.

Aisha shrunk away from him quickly, realizing just how close she had moved to the human without thinking and cleared her throat while turning away from him. "I am sorry. I need to be going," she said suddenly.

"Wait," he called, extending a hand towards her.

She paused, looking over her shoulder and watching the human closely.

"Well," he began timidly, then gestured at the pan behind him on the stovetop. "I made a bunch of food. There's way too much for me to eat alone. And I didn't know how much you could eat as a viper, so I sorta just tripled how much I usually make. I kinda figured you would be hungry and wanted to thank for you looking after me."

Aisha glanced to the food, her tongue unconsciously darting out and taking in the scent of the meal. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, and she was always famished after an op. And this time was no exception. "You have already done so much for me, and I was supposed to be the one to look after you this time," she weakly replied.

"Hey, we can look after each other. That's what teammates do, right?" Jonathan stated, moving to a cupboard and pulling out two plates. "And I already made the food, so it'd be a shame not to eat it, eh?" He offered her one of the plates with a gentle smile.

She eyed the simple platter, eventually nodding in defeat and taking it from him. She felt warmth blossom in her chest when he gave her a wide grin before spinning around to face the stove. He paused just to the side, holding up the pan and motioning her closer with his head.

"Serve yourself first," she said with a shake of her head.

"I'm supposed to stay home, so I can just get more food whenever I want. You're gonna be running around for the next several hours and might not have the chance to eat again for a while. Take as much as you want, Ai. Don't even worry about it." He tapped the side of the pan with the spatula and kept up his lopsided grin, the indents on his cheeks so much more pronounced than usual.

She sighed, slithering forward and holding out her plate for him. He began to shovel the contents out for her, being incredibly generous with her helpings. Not that he had been lying when he said he made a large amount of food. Once he had covered most of her plate with his creation, she nodded, telling him to stop. He pulled the pan back, a majority of the contents gone, so he merely tipped it over his own plate and dumped the rest out.

"Silverware is in that drawer," he said, pointing at the offending spot before taking the pan and spoon to the sink.

"Would you like me to grab you any?" she asked, opening the wooden drawer and gazing at the organized stacks within.

"Yes, please. Just a fork is fine. Want me to nab you something to drink? I have some coffee left in the pot, or there's water, and I also got a carton of lemonade the other day if you want some of that," he offered, not looking back as he began to rinse out his tools in the sink.

"Umm..." she lamely began, grabbing the forks and moving towards the table.

"You want two things?" he asked casually, somehow knowing what troubled her.

"I'll be fine with water."

"What would you like, Ai?" he asked with a smirk, moving to the fridge and opening the door.

"Coffee and lemonade, please."

"Comin' right up!" His voice had suddenly taken a thick accent, the suddenness causing the viper to laugh into her hand.

She settled into one of the chairs, carefully making sure it could support her weight first to avoid crushing it. Then she began to watch him. He moved slowly, methodically, but with a hint of almost whimsy. He was clearly in a good mood, if the large grin on his face was anything to go off of. He somehow seemed completely unbothered by the fact that he almost had his life taken from him by a muton just several hours ago. She couldn't help but feel curious as to why he seemed so joyful. She almost wondered if it had something to do with her but shot that idea down almost immediately.

He joined her at the table a short while later, carrying two mugs in one hand and a large glass in the other. He set them down, falling into his own chair across from her with a happy sigh. "Alright, let's dig in!" he almost cheered, then paused, looking down and realizing he had not grabbed his own plate. He spun in his chair, seeing it on the counter next to the stove. "Dammit," he grumbled.

Aisha began to laugh in earnest, watching as the Reaper shambled over with sagging shoulders to retrieve his plate and return to her. "I could have grabbed that for you, Jon," she said, only barely managing to stifle her giggles.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that far ahead. I was just doing what I was thinking about in the moment." He shrugged, then began to eat.

Aisha looked to the plate, seeing it was some manner of skillet with several different ingredients all mixed together. "What is this called?" she asked, taking a bite and finding it to be much more appetizing than it appeared at first glance. She, personally, would have added a few more spices for some extra flavor, but it wasn't bad as it was.

"It's an old Reaper meal. Easy to make, really filling, and you can make tons of it without much hassle. We just call it 'Kill-it-skillet' since we would usually just add whatever we could find or kill to it. It's much better with ketchup," he said, sliding the aforementioned condiment towards her.

She popped off the cap, adding a small amount to her plate and then mixing it together as he instructed. Trying the meal again, she was much more pleased with the results. "It is very good. Thank you, Jonathan."

"No problem. I've actually been learning to cook recently. Not that I'm much better than a beginner, but I'm loads better than I was a few weeks ago. I just never had a chance to learn when with the Reapers. Between not having any spices, let alone so many ingredients half the time, we also never had any of the nice tools and appliances I do now. Everything was usually just over a fire. The fanciest we ever got was throwing a bunch of shit into a big pot and calling it a stew. Otherwise? We just fire roasted whatever we had on hand." He shrugged. "Definitely makes you appreciate actually good food though."

She nodded to him. "I can imagine. ADVENT gave specialty units better amenities than normal ones. But I would hesitate to say they were good. Just slightly above passable. The nutrient paste we were given was flavored, as opposed to the other, bland kinds."

"I doubt that the tasted very good or accurate to what they were supposed to though?" Jonathan asked with a knowing smirk.

"Oh, they were absolutely horrendous. Whoever created the paste that was supposed to taste like bacon had clearly never had any before. It was much more akin to cardboard." She shuddered. "I do not miss those days. For more than just the reasons of food, obviously. But the horrid nutrient paste does not sweeten those already terrible memories."

Jonathan was about to jokingly mention having eaten dog food, but decided he would rather not tell her that fun fact about himself. All he needed was for her to think that his breath and mouth smelled liked canned dog kibble and completely kill what slim chances he had of her being interested in him. Thankfully, she managed to pick up and move the subject of their conversation on her own when she looked back towards the kitchen, her head slightly tilting to the side.

"I am curious about something, Jonathan," she said.

"What's that?"

She blinked a few times before speaking again. "What manner of music is this? Are they a human band? The vocalist does not sound human."

He turned his head to match her own, gazing at the speaker he had set up. He listened, recognizing the song almost instantly. "These guys? They're human. They're from before ADVENT took over, though. Never heard Heavy Metal music before?"

"Never." She hummed softly. "I would not say I dislike it. But it is unlike anything I have ever heard before."

Jonathan nodded. "It's definitely unique. And can be a bit of an acquired taste. My mother hates Metal, actually. But I had a good friend when I was younger who was a big fan of it. Had tons of Metal songs saved in files on his phone. He shared them with me, and I ended up falling in love with it. ADVENT didn't allow lots of different types of music outside of what they sanctioned, and they damn near killed off all Heavy Metal songs with how much they cracked down on the genre. So you'd be really hard pressed to find anyone who knows about it, let alone listens to it nowadays."

Aisha frowned. "That is unfortunate. A co-worker at the hospital I worked at would go to many concerts, regardless of artist or genre. She just loved music in all forms. Are there any Metal artists you follow?"

He nodded, pulling out his phone. "There's one, yeah. I love their music. And they do tour around every now and then. I'm just waiting for the day they come to 79 so I can see them in person. Let me just put on some of their stuff. It's nice to just let play in the background." He tapped the screen a few times before the current song stopped and a new one began. Immediately, there was a cacophony of guitar and drums that began to play from the speaker. Then the singer began, his voice gravely and deep like the one before, growling low in such a way that his words were completely undecipherable to the viper.

"Do you know what he is saying?" she asked.

"Mostly, yeah. There are a couple of words I can't completely pick up. But I can get pretty much all of it." He began bobbing his head with the song. "Again, acquired taste. But Metal is fun. You just get to head bang and let loose. Although, I don't know if I could ever see you head banging." He let out a short snort that was followed by a chuckle.

"I do not know exactly what headbanging is, but I have a feeling I would not be doing it either." She smiled fondly. "But you do sometimes bring out the more foolish side of me. So maybe I might in the right situation."

"I would literally pay an entire month's salary just to see that for like five minutes." The two began to laugh, their food slowly being finished and forgotten as they continued to speak about whatever came across their minds. They sank into the moment, just enjoying the company of the other. It was easy to forget about everything else. Easy to fall into a simple state where nothing was there to bother or distract them.

But eventually, Aisha pulled out her phone, checking the time and gasping loudly. "I need to be going. It is almost eleven, and I still need to go home to change and shower before returning to work. And you need to rest. I am so sorry, Jonathan, time just seemed to slip away from me," she apologized while standing up. She began to move back into the kitchen, taking her plate to the sink. She then became aware of the human behind her. He reached a hand out and attempting to take her plate from her.

"I got the cleanup, Ai, if you want to just head out."

"No, I will clean up after myself," she said.

"But you're my guest?" he said teasingly.

She huffed, running the water hotter to help her in her task. "And I am supposed to be looking after you while you are injured. And beside that, we are supposed to help each other, remember?"

"Did you just use my own spell against me?" he asked with a wide grin.

"What?"

"Nothing," he added with a snort. "I'll bring the dishes over, you clean them, then I'll dry and put them away. How about that?" he offered.

"I can do it all."

"Do you know where the pan goes?" he countered.

She was silent for a short moment before saying, "I know where the plates and forks go."

"Just clean them and I'll put them away, you goof," he said happily, beginning to ferry the items from table to sink.

"Very well," she grumbled.

Jonathan only laughed at her defeated tone.

---

With the dishes cleaned and stored, Aisha began to leave, exiting out the front door with the Reaper following after. They stood just outside his apartment, neither knowing exactly what to do or say next.

Aisha finally spoke. "See you later?"

He gave her a single nod. "Absolutely. You won't get rid of me that easily."

The viper's tongue flicked out, her eyes looking him up and down a few times. She shuffled on her tail side to side before she cleared her throat suddenly. "I shall be leaving now. Get well soon, and enjoy your time with your mother, Jonathan." She started to move down the stairs, not planning on turning back to help hide her embarrassment, when he called out to her.

"I will. And Ai?"

She stopped, glancing to where he stood at the top of the stairs. "Yes?"

He licked his lips. Then he took in a deep breath. "Once my mom's done visiting, did you still want to go do something together? The two of us?" he asked, his voice dripping with an uncertainty that she hadn't seen from him.

But his question had shot straight through her, her heart rate picking up and face growing warm. She nodded swiftly, her excitement barely contained. "Yes!" She cleared her throat. "I mean, yes, I would."

His posture relaxed instantly, a hand giving her a thumbs up as he took a step back. "Awesome! I can check for some different options and run a couple of them by you later. But if you find something, that's also cool! Yeah!" Then he grew silent, taking another step back. "I'm gonna go and... do stuff now. Have a good day, Ai!" Then he darted out of sight, closing the door behind him and locking it loudly.

Aisha began to make her way home, her movement across the ground quick. Not because she was worried about taking too long to get in to work. But because she felt so much energy from him having asked her to go out together.

"He did not ask me out like that, simply just to go out somewhere with him. There is a difference," she reasoned to herself, trying to calm down. But if he had meant it that way, she wouldn't have said no. How could she? But now she needed to start thinking about what they could do together that would be fun for both of them. The city was incredibly large, with hundreds of activities scattered all over. She began to wonder if maybe Andal would have any ideas he could share with her. He knew the city relatively well. And he might also be able to give her some pointers into potential next steps she could try to take towards the Reaper she fancied. Her face grew warm at the thought.

"One step at a time," she told herself.

---

Jonathan locked the door, moving further into his home and waiting for a few seconds. Then he loudly let out a shaky breath. He began to take in and let out air until he felt himself cool down.

"That wasn't so bad, eh? Sure, I didn't exactly ask her out, but we'll get there! Baby steps." He sat down on his couch, pulling out his phone and beginning to browse the web once again for more things he could do in the city with Aisha. Picking up where he left off, he began to scan the different pages and titles that reached out and begged for his attention. But he still wasn't able to find anything that really piqued his interest. He groaned, tossing his phone to the side and rubbing his eyes after his fruitless search grew too tiring to continue.

Then he smelled something rank that gave him pause. He sniffed in, finding it was coming from himself. He scowled, standing to go and get some new clothing for after a shower. Grabbing several different articles, he entered the bathroom and set them onto the counter. He found his gaze floating to his reflection in the mirror, stopping on his neck. He let out an, "Eww," as he pulled off his shirt to take a better look at the bruising. He leaned forward, gently running a hand along the tender skin.

"That definitely looks way worse than it did earlier," he mumbled to himself. "I might actually want to get a turtleneck to hide this." Then he grew warm at the memory of Aisha saying he would look dashing in one. "Or five." He thought of when she had moved closer to his neck, her tongue lightly dancing on the skin and tickling him. He had also just barely been able to feel her breath whenever she would exhale. He shivered, goosebumps racing up his arms. Then he cleared his throat, shaking his head and reeling back in his mind before it could run rampant. "It's gonna be a cold shower sort of day, isn't it?" he asked no one in particular.

He groaned, turning the shower on low, not looking forward to the frigid water he was going to be dousing himself with. But at least the cold would be better for his bruise, so it wasn't going to be all bad. And once he was finished, he decided he would go to the store for a turtleneck. His mother was going to be arriving in a couple of days, and he needed at least one before she arrived. But more would be better so he wouldn't have to wear the same one for a week straight. That would be a surefire way for her to catch on to him.

He finished undressing and then stepped into the cold water, letting out a brief shout at the icy sensation that cascaded down his back. "Hell's bells!" He crossed his arms over his chest, trying not to turn the heat up or jump out of the shower and run away. After a short, agonizing moment the cold became moderately bearable. But only just. He set to cleaning himself, finding that as he moved and scrubbed himself down that he warmed up slightly. He didn't remain there for long, merely doing what he needed and then hopping out.

"Ok, clean and cold. Great combo. Now I just gotta hit up the store, and I should be all ready for mom. Probably," he finished pathetically. He was still slightly worried for the visit. There were so many things that could potentially go wrong. And he did not want to have to deal with more trouble right now. But he had done everything he could to be ready and make sure he and his mother would have a good visit. All he really could do now was wait and then enjoy himself for a week. And pray she didn't find out he had the hots for a viper. That would make for a very long, very painful week.

---

He scanned the crowd, trying to locate her within the swirling mass of people. But he had a feeling he wouldn't actually be able to find her until she wanted to be found. Like a true Reaper. So he continued to hunt for her, looking for the human and her distinct coat. Then he caught a glimpse. A quick flash of something not quite supposed to be there and was then gone. He picked apart the area, noticing it was mostly humans who had crowded around a large stone pillar, their bags waiting by their sides while they looked at the passing cars or checked their phones.

But then Jonathan finally saw her. She was near the wall, hidden within the shadows and only just barely noticeable because of her luggage. He rolled down the window of the cab, waving a hand and shouting out to her.

"Mom! Right here!"

She perked up, her face hidden beneath the shadow of her hood. But he knew she saw him. Lifting the handle up, she began to pull her bag after her, giving a wave back to him with her free hand. Jonathan leapt out of the cab, asking the driver to pop the trunk for them. Meeting his mom part way, she lowered her hood, her long, curly hair leaping free as she hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Johnny! I missed you so much!" she said, almost crushing him enough to hurt as she lifted him off his feet briefly.

"I missed you too, mom," he said while returning the hug, but with less force to avoid hurting the smaller human. "Here, let me get your bag for you." He pulled away from her, grabbing the handle and bringing it to their ride. Easily tossing it in the back, he slammed the trunk closed, noticing that his mother had already hopped into the back seat of the taxi. He quickly jogged around to the other side, opening the door and sliding in behind the driver's seat.

"You both good to go?" the driver asked.

"Yeah. Can you bring us back to where you picked me up at?" Jonathan said.

"You got it." Expertly swerving out to begin their journey back, the driver grew silent to focus on his task.

"Let me get a good look at you," his mother said, pulling Jonathan's attention back to her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face her more directly and tracing her brown eyes up and down his entire form. "You eating enough?"

"Yes, mom," he said with a smirk.

"Good. Sleeping well?"

"Much better. First week or so was rough with all the noise. But it's not a problem now."

"Good." She narrowed her eyes a few times at certain points, most notably around his chest and neck area. He was worried she would question the black turtleneck he wore under his Reaper coat, but she didn't comment. He figured she was more surprised to see him wearing one. Not that he could blame her, but he seemed to be in the clear on that front. A good start in his mind.

"You been keeping out of trouble, or still getting into it whenever you can?" he asked, trying to redirect her focus off of him.

"Well, of course I'm still getting into trouble. Nothing I can't handle, mind you, but still trouble. I'm old, not boring." They shared a laugh. "But I expect you to tell me about all the things you've been doing since moving here. And don't you hit me with that 'it's need-to-know' crap. I already had a nice chat with Jane. She said she trusted you with what you could and couldn't tell me."

"You got in touch with Director Kelly that easily?" he asked incredulously.

His mother gave a prideful smirk. "Well, of course. Did you forget who I am?"

"No. I just thought that in your old age you had forgotten to reach out is all," he jabbed.

She glared at him. "How unlucky for you that I haven't forgotten how to kick your ass, son."

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it," he said, sticking his tongue out.

"Little shit."

"Love you too, mom."

She shook her head, her warm smile once more returning to her face. Then she latched onto him again. "God, I missed you, Johnny. It's been so weird not having you around the past few years. After always having you there at home for so long and then to just... not."

He nodded, burying his face into her shoulder. "I should have visited more. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You needed to go out and do your own thing. I can understand that. I'd be a pretty crappy mother if I kept you from doing that, huh? And I also could have tried to visit you as well." she said with a slight laugh.

"Yeah. I guess you're ok."

She pinched his side, getting a small chirp from him as he leapt away from her and back to his side of the taxi. "Keep that up and one of us isn't going to survive the week," she challenged playfully.

"Is that a threat?"

"No. I don't make threats, honey. I make promises," she said while looking forward as the cab continued weaving through the midday traffic.

Jonathan snorted. "That's almost as scary as whenever you use my full name. That's how I know when I'm going to get served a one-way ticket to an ass kicking. Granted, those are usually well deserved."

"Like when you and the other kids drank the camp's entire liquor supply all those years ago?"

"I only had like two glasses, mom! I told you, Tommy and Mitch drank most of the booze!" he defended.

She shrugged. "But you still helped them break into the storehouse with the others, right?"

"Uh..."

"In fact, you were the one who stole the key to get in, if I'm remembering correctly," she added, taking apparent joy at the face of her son.

"I think we're getting off track and forgetting who drank the most," he stated plainly.

His mother only laughed. "Oh, I was pissed. Everyone in the camp was. But I was also secretly impressed."

"Why's that?" he asked with genuine confusion.

"You stole the key to the storehouse off Lethos. I've known that man for decades, Johnny. And I haven't known anyone, Reaper or otherwise, who could successfully sneak up on the man and get away without him noticing. And yet, you did it and stole something off him. All just for some shitty hooch." She scoffed. "But you've always able to do whatever you put your mind to. If you had put it to more constructive things when you were younger who knows what you could have gotten away with?"

"I could have found a way to rule the world!" he joked, holding up a fist heroically. "You could have had a king for a son!"

"Instead I got a dork. Really got screwed over there, didn't I?"

"Ouch," he said with mock hurt.

They were pulled from their banter when the driver cleared his throat loudly. "Hey, you two. We're almost there. Another minute or so."

"Got it," Jonathan responded. He began to fish out his phone, only looking at the lock screen long enough to see he had missed a message from Aisha. He swiped it away quickly, not bothering to read it yet and just hoping his mother hadn't noticed his expression or the message itself. Thankfully, she seemed to be looking out the window, taking in the sights of the city. He almost wanted to send the viper a message back, but decided he would wait until later, when his mother's attention was going to be held on something else for much longer.

The taxi pulled to the side of the road, the driver holding back his phone for Jonathan. Passing them next to each other, the payment was confirmed with a ping and the driver smiled. "Alright, enjoy your visit ma'am," he said to the elder Reaper. "And try not to annoy her too much," the driver added to Jonathan.

"He gets it," she said triumphantly while exiting the cab.

"Hey, you dealt with me for years. I think you can handle a week of my shenanigans, mom," Jonathan stated. He moved to the trunk, lifting the already unlatched compartment. He retrieved his mother's luggage, placing it on the ground and then closing the trunk. He gave a slap to the cab, the driver waving at them and driving off.

His mother made to take back her bag, but Jonathan shook his head. "I got it. Let me get it to your room. My place is just up those stairs," he said while motioning towards his apartment.

"What a gentleman. Glad I raised you so well. I only hope some nice girl will be able to see that past the snark. If one hasn't already?" she said, her last sentence a mix between a question and a statement that immediately had Jonathan on edge.

He cleared his throat, working up the stairs and fishing out his keys. "No, mom. I'm not seeing anyone. Just focusing on work right now." He unlocked the door, letting her enter first before following after and closing the door behind them.

"Really? Because whoever messaged you had you smiling."

"No, mom, that's not-" Jonathan began, not sure what to say as he moved down the hall awkwardly. He placed his mother's bag into the guest room, turning around to see she had settled onto the couch in his living room and was now watching him with a wry smile. He knew that smile. All his effort and plans to cover himself and keep her in the dark, and she had figured out something was up within the first fifteen minutes. He mentally cursed to himself.

"Not what? Is it a different girl than the one who gave you what you got here?" she trailed off, tapping her own neck knowingly.

It took the younger Reaper a few seconds to piece together what she was suggesting before he shook his head, waving his hands in front of himself wildly. "Nope! Negative! I do not have any hickeys, mom! I haven't even done anything with her!"

"So it was a girl texting you. Do you want to do anything with her?" she asked, her teasing look becoming much more sincere and warm.

"What do you mean 'Do you want to do anything with her?' We're just friends right now, mom. There's a lot going on right now with work," he said, settling down on the opposite side of the couch from her.

"So you have no plans with this girl? You aren't going to ask her on a date?"

"Not... not yet. No."

His mother practically squealed. "I knew you were going to find someone here! There's too many people for you not to end up meeting someone you were interested in."

"Find someone? Mom, nothing has happened. She might just say no, be completely uninterested and then that's that," he argued.

"And if she doesn't?" she countered.

"Then she doesn't, and we start moving forward with whatever happens next. Not that I have much of a plan on that front right now," he said, sounding tired as he slumped back onto the couch.

His mom, moving slightly closer, poked his shoulder. "So, what's her name?"

Jonathan debated answering, eventually deciding it would likely be fine. "Her name's Aisha."

"Aisha?" His mother paused. "Sounds foreign."

Jonathan's eyes widened as he thought of what to say. "Well, her family is in Asia. Not sure exactly where from. But that's probably why," he supplied the half-truth, praying it would be enough to convince his mother.

"I suppose that would make sense. But you're sure you don't have anything under that turtleneck from this 'Aisha' character?" his mother probed.

"Why would you think that?" he asked timidly.

"Johnny, most men only wear turtlenecks for three reasons. First, they're out of clean laundry and just happened to find the old one they were given by a significant other. Second, their significant other got it for them to wear when they go take photos together and then bitch the whole time about how itchy it is."

"You sound like you have experience with those two," he taunted.

"I may or may not have bought your father one a long time ago. And he only wore it when I made him for family photos, or when he forgot to do his laundry."

Jonathan snorted in amusement. "That's awesome."

"And the third," she continued. "Is when someone is trying to cover up the bite marks from their trysts with a lover."

Jonathan groaned, placing his face into a hand. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's not from bite marks from Aisha or anything like that. I am covering up some marks though. I just didn't want you to get worried if you saw it."

Her face darkened. "Marks. What from? From work? What happened?" She sounded concerned now, drawing closer to him protectively.

"Mom, relax," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and holding her still. "The last op we ran a couple days ago didn't go completely to plan. During the scramble to get out, between the raging firefight and the massive storm trying to drown everyone, I didn't notice a muton until he was on top of me. But I'm alright. So there's no need to worry."

"A muton snuck up on you?"

"I know that sounds bad, I was just being a little careless. But it was really difficult to notice anything with the massive shit storm that was going on. Trust me, I haven't forgotten my training or anything. Everything just got really bad really fast. There were some other not so good things at play that didn't help the situation, but that's stuff that I'm sure Director Kelly doesn't want me to share with anyone outside of my team." He grabbed the edge of his collar, preparing to pull down the long article. "Just don't freak out, ok? It looks really bad, but it's not, alright?"

His mother nodded, taking in a deep breath and watching his neck. "Alright, I won't freak out. So long as the one who hurt you was dealt with?"

"Oh, his skull got pulped. No worries there. But he did almost crush my windpipe," he said lightheartedly. He tugged down the collar, watching as his mother's face went from blank to shock, then to anger, and finally resting on concern.

"Oh, Johnny," she whispered, moving a hand forward and holding it just above the skin, seemingly afraid to touch it for fear of hurting him. "It doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No, mom. After the third day it stopped hurting unless I bumped it. Like I said, it looks way worse than it actually feels. Sure, it ain't sunshine and rainbows, but it's not like existence is pain or anything like that. Another week and a half or so and it should be completely healed." He pulled back up the collar, hiding the ugly marks from view. "So don't worry. I'm alright. My teammate had my back and saved me."

"A teammate?" his mother asked, her voice betraying disbelief. "An alien saved you?"

"Yes, mom. We all look after each other. I hadn't been able to fight off the muton due to one of those... things that made the op super dangerous. I even used my knife and aimed for the weak points in his arm like I had been taught. Did absolutely nothing to stop him. It was only after his head got blasted open that he stopped." He narrowed his eyes in brief anger at the memory. "Pretty annoying that I couldn't do anything. I've even been training with my teammates to get better at close quarters, but getting my ass handed to me by them made me realize I'm seriously lacking once someone gets up close. Makes me feel like a liability to my team. That muton would have killed me if-" he cut off, not wanting to say Aisha's name and give his mother that connection.

His mom nodded solemnly. "Well, I supposed that gives me a good segway into why I wanted to make this trip." His mother stood, making her way into the guest bedroom and emerging shortly after with a small box in her hand. She sat back down on the couch, holding out the gift. "Didn't have time to wrap it. Or even buy wrapping paper," she joked.

"Well, a late Christmas gift is still a gift," he said with fake snark. He slowly opened it, surprised at what lay within. He set the box onto the coffee table, pulling out the item within and carefully rotating it in his hands. "Woah. A karambit? It's just like yours." He pulled the curved blade from its sheathe, awkwardly holding the foreign knife.

"And just like what your father used to carry," she said. "I know you and your father didn't get along. I also know that's probably the biggest understatement of the century. But I learned how to use these knives from him a long time ago. And he learned from... someone. He never told me who or when. But his skill was undeniable. And he passed that learning on to me. Just like I plan to with you. These blades are incredibly difficult to use, designed to only be wielded by the best of the best. Which is why, when I found out I was pregnant with you, me and your father agreed to make one for you and teach you how to use it once you were older."

Jonathan looked to her in confusion. "So why wait so long?"

She shrugged, melancholy infecting her features. "There were several reasons. The war was ramping up with ADVENT, and your father... well, he changed from the warm, jovial man I married to what you knew. He became more interested in killing and destroying the enemy out of hatred than fighting for his family's safety. The knife we had started making was left abandoned. After he died, I ended up destroying what had been made, not that there was much besides just the handle at that point. Then, once you came of age and started to fight, I had wanted to make one for you again, realizing that you were going to be out there and in danger. I wanted to give you something to help you protect yourself. But there was no time to make one for you during the war. And finding one was going to be impossible.

"Then the war ended, and I didn't see much reason in making one for you at that point. ADVENT was mostly gone. But then you went to start seeing the world, fighting here and there with the Reapers. So I knew I needed to fire back up the old forge. I started making it for you. I was going to give it to you a while back, but you practically vanished, joining the Lost unit and going to where I couldn't reach you. But I kept working on it, making sure it would be perfect. I just had to wait for you to slow down so I could get it to you. You took your new job here, and I knew it was going to be now or never. And here we are."

Jonathan hummed, tracing a finger along the flat of the blade, noticing that the hooded skull of the Reapers was engraved onto the side, its pale coloring contrasting the dark metal the rest of the weapon was made of. He flipped it over in his hands a few times, finding it was light and easy to handle. But it was far different from the straight knives he had been trained in.

"You'll teach me how to use it?" he asked, slipping his index finger into the loop and holding it similarly to how he had seen his mother in the past.

"Of course. We can spend this week catching up as well as teaching you how to use this without hurting yourself. Sound like a plan?" she asked with a happy smile on her face.

"You really think I can learn how to use this thing as well as you in a week?" he joked.

"Probably not. But you've always picked things up quickly. And I can leave with some tips for things to practice even after I'm gone. But I do think you'll be able to learn how to use it more than well enough to defend yourself within a week with my tutelage."

He scoffed, slowly spinning it around his finger awkwardly. "I hope so. I've seen you use one of these before. I always thought they were super cool. But I guess we never had a chance to learn back then, huh?"

"We can now," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving a soft squeeze. "Do you like it?" she asked.

"I love it." He sheathed the blade, putting it down and then hugging her. "Thanks, mom. It's great. I can see why you wanted to come deliver it personally."

"I'm glad you like it. And yes, teaching the basics, which there is a lot, is much better to do in person than over the phone. And I'm going to have enough of a hard time teaching your weird left-handed ass as it is," she said with a laugh.

"Just reverse what you do," he teased.

"I wish it were always that simple. Reversing muscle memory is never fun. It's why I didn't teach you so much growing up. I didn't want to screw you up irreversibly."

"I thought I was already screwed up when I was born?"

"Oh, without a doubt. But I didn't want to make it worse, you know?" she taunted.

He pulled out of the hug. "Wow, you sure are mean," he stated with fake hurt in his voice.

She snickered. "Well, how about we get some dinner, and then after that we can start training on your knife? Would I still be mean, then?"

He shrugged. "I guess it's a step in the right direction."

"You're such a little punk, Johnny," she said while standing up.

"Hey, you came to visit me, so obviously you don't dislike my punkiness," he pointed out.

"That's true. And maybe this Aisha lady won't either. After all, you don't seem to dislike her," his mother said with finality while moving to the front door.

"Mom! Come on, it's not like that!"

"Not yet!" she said back to him in a sing-song voice.

---

A few days had passed since his mother had arrived, and other than one or two tense moments where she would stare threateningly at an alien as they walked the streets, Jonathan had been greatly enjoying their time together. Whether they went out to see the sights of the city or stayed at his home and trained with his new knife, both Reapers found themselves smiling and joking with each other as though no time had passed. But Jonathan knew he was going to need to start going back to work soon, regardless of if she was still here or not.

Aisha and Andal had both been making sure to keep him posted on any changes that had occurred while he was recovering, but he knew couldn't stop the feeling growing in his chest that he needed to be there with his team. Whatever had happened to the chemical weapon at the docks wasn't something he could just rest through. And it had apparently been obvious to his mother that he was growing increasingly bothered by it, even if she didn't know the exact details herself. But she knew him well enough to know when he was agitated.

Their training had only grown more intense each day, Jonathan using it as a way to help keep himself sane while feeling stuck away from Bauk. But it only did so much, even as he felt more and more accomplished at his rapidly growing skill with the foreign knife and its many varied techniques. But today, he was going to return to Bauk, leaving his mother to have free reign of either his apartment or to go out and explore the city at her own leisure. So he was in his room, making sure he had all the things he might need gathered up and ready to move across town. There wasn't much, but he had made sure to strap his new knife to his belt, hidden underneath his coat but still within quick, easy access. Not that he suspected he would need it.

He heard a knock on the door, calling out for his mother to enter. She slowly opened the wooden door, leaning against the frame and just watching him with a studious eye. They didn't speak, but he could tell she had words for him. There was the smallest traces of worry he could feel from her. Not that he blamed her, considering the last time he had gone into work he had his windpipe almost crushed flat. That, and the fact that she likely still distrusted his team. He wasn't going to get her to magically like aliens overnight, but he would have at least hoped him being saved by one would be a start. Baby steps, he reminded himself. Lots of baby steps.

"You have a mission today?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said while shaking his head. "But if my team needs me to help with something, I need to be there. Having a slightly sore neck shouldn't have kept me out this long. I only really indulged in not going back so soon because you were here, and I kept getting told that nothing had come up." He sighed in annoyance. "But maybe something would have if I had been there, biting the bullet and prowling after some targets instead of just lounging around."

"Johnny, it's only been a week since your op, right? And if something had come up, they would have called you in, I'm sure. Relax. Besides, you weren't just lounging around." She motioned to his belt. "You've got a new trick up your sleeve, now. And while I wouldn't quite say you're at the point of being a true threat, you're not far off. By the end of my visit, you'll be as good as me. So don't worry so much."

He nodded to her, letting out a heavy breath and beginning to make his way towards her. He pulled her in for a hug. "Thanks, mom."

"Anytime, sweetie. Now, go out there and hunt. Or whatever it is you're going to be doing today."

"Probably lots of paperwork. Haven't done it from the last op yet. So that'll be my start. Then I'll probably have our resident doctor looks me over, worry wart that she is. Doesn't even know I'm coming in today. She might be... less than enthused to see me back at the office instead of here resting and spending time with you," he joked.

"Well, Reapers get cabin fever easily. I've been feeling it the same as you. I have a few places I want to go see today myself. So I'll be plenty busy for the next few hours. You won't have to worry about me," she assured.

"Well, just try not to fight anyone in the city, please? I know most people aren't human, but they aren't bad folks, okay? I don't want to get off work hearing you got arrested or have a warrant out for your arrest. Kinda hard to learn knife play from you when you're in a metal cage, ya know?" he teased.

His mother nodded, breaking the hug and walking towards the front door with him. "I'll do my best. I'll try to avoid crowds and all that. I'll probably just take a taxi. Don't know if I could handle being crushed between a sectoid and viper on those trams again. I almost gutted that one sectoid last time."

"You would have if I hadn't flicked you in the back of the head. So, yeah, I think showing some restraint and picking a taxi is a really good idea. I've seen what you can do with a karambit. Please don't do it to some poor hybrid commuting to work," he said while barely keeping himself from laughing.

"I'll try. But time will tell, I suppose." She opened the door, motioning him out. "But anyways, get going to the trams. I'll wait here for my taxi."

"Alright, I'm leaving. I'll send you a message when I'm off so we can go get some dinner together. Have fun exploring the city. Oh, and remember, don't go to-"

"Avoid the ghetto and the Red-Light District, I know. You told me. I have no desire to go and play with the trash there. I was going to see the park. Need some nature time sitting under a tree after all the concrete and cars."

Jonathan smirked, turning back to her from the bottom of the stairs. "Getting back to your roots, eh?"

"Boo. Get out of here with your puns. Begone!" she yelled at him playfully.

Jonathan's laughter echoed out as he vanished from sight. Once he was far removed from sight, the elder Reaper's smile quickly twisted to a scowl. "Now then, time to visit an old friend." She stalked down the stairs without a sound, seeing her ride was pulling into the complex. She silently entered the yellow vehicle, only speaking long enough to say where she needed to go before pulling up her hood and almost vanishing into the back seat. Her fingers deftly danced over her sheathed blade, the anticipation making her feel like electricity was coursing through her veins.

"Soon," she thought darkly. "Very soon."

---

Jonathan exited the elevator, walking down the plain hallways to the op room. Upon entering, he saw Wisp was already halfway to him, her posture giving him the impression that if she had a mouth, she would be smiling at him.

"Jonathan. It is wonderful to see you. Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Much. I'm ready to get back out and help the team in any way I can. Anything new come up?" he questioned the Spectre, walking to the holo-table with her.

"Not much, unfortunately. However, the police force and other smaller groups within the city have all made their new priority finding this chemical weapon. The threat could be anywhere, and we still have yet to find out who took it that night. As such, it is our priority to find those responsible as well. But we haven't uncovered any information from what Sanguines we have managed to find. Carnegie's forces still remain elusive, so we also have not discovered anything from them either. And we still have not uncovered any information about the ADVENT cell itself either."

Jonathan nodded, seeing several faces hovering above the map of the city, with multiple points of interest highlighted on the map itself. "I see. So we're really having to play catchup here, aren't we?"

"Correct. If you would like more specifics, I would recommend speaking to Hawkeye. He is currently in his office. The others are all out in the city, investigating different locations for clues into the chemical. I am currently monitoring everything I can from here," she said while swiping through several files on the holo-table swiftly, taking a seat. "And you likely have much paperwork that was left incomplete during your recovery."

"Lucky me," he grumbled, drawing a strange noise from the Spectre that was almost akin to a laugh. He started to move towards the offices when Wisp called out to him. He turned around, looking at the strange mechanical being.

"It is good to have you back, my friend," she said with a slight head bow.

"It's good to be back, Wisp. Even if I technically wasn't gone that long or for anything even remotely serious," he joked.

"Maybe not. But it was certainly different not having you here."

"Ah, you'd say that about any of the others of the team." He gave a halfhearted wave.

"This is true. But you are all important members of the team. As such, anyone's absence would be heavily felt. It is just different as to how. So, please, try not to get yourself suffocated again," she ended with a faint, almost imperceivable taunt at him.

He held up two fingers, placing his other hand over his chest. "Scout's honor!" With that, he finally turned away once more and made his way into the offices, stopping outside his boss' door and knocking a few times.

"Come in," the secretive man said from within.

Jonathan slowly entered, glancing around and spotting the other human sitting behind his desk. Upon seeing the Reaper, Hawkeye smiled, standing up a holding out a hand. "Jonathan. Good to have you back."

The ferryman shook the extended hand, giving a smile of his own. "It's nice to be back, sir. Sorry about not coming in sooner."

"Not a problem. Despite how tense the situation seems, not that it isn't exactly calm, there wasn't too much you could have done even if you were here. We're still hunting those who were there that night, but they are either dead or damn near vanished into thin air. Trying to find them has been a massive pain in the ass. However, we are fairly certain that the Arbiters do not have the chemical. Which is a very good thing, all the bad shit considered." Hawkeye sat back into his chair, motioning for Jonathan to take one of the ones across from him.

He sat down, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "How do you figure?"

"Nothing has been attempted. The Arbiters getting their hands on a weapon like that? They'd use it immediately. But they haven't, which is plenty telling. Now we just need to figure out if Carnegie or the Sanguines have it. And that's where we currently stand on this chemical debacle," Hawkeye said, sliding a thick stack of paper to the operative. "Paperwork. Most of it's done, but there's still a decent bit left for you. Sorry."

"Lucky me," Jonathan complained. "But who do you think has the chemical? Or do we literally know nothing?" he asked, standing to make his way to his own office.

Hawkeye shrugged. "Technically, we know nothing concrete. But my money is on Carnegie. If the Sanguines somehow got it out of there, they wouldn't hesitate to sell it back to the Arbiters. After all, that's their whole business model. Make a thing, sell the thing. And not following up on their deal, especially with a group as fanatical as the Arbiters? Not very healthy. Carnegie, however, has no reason to do anything besides hold onto it. Hell, he might even try to sell it back to the Sanguines for an exorbitant price."

"And the docks were crawling with his men during the ambush. Pretty safe bet that they were the last ones standing," Jonathan reasoned.

"That too. From the video Wisp got of the chemical, it's not exactly small and easy to transport. So it isn't like some lucky Arbiter or Sanguine could just nab it and run. They would have to have loaded the entire thing up, which would take multiple people, get it secured in a large vehicle so it wouldn't break open during transport, and then get out. All while being under heavy fire and surrounded. I just don't see that being possible for the Sanguines to accomplish."

"So do we have a plan to put some pressure on Carnegie? See if we can knock it loose and get it back?" Jonathan asked, finding himself excited at the prospect of redeeming himself.

"Nothing planned yet. We still don't even have much info on how to stop Carnegie's normal operations to begin with. But with this sudden shakeup, we might be able to catch them off balance." He then motioned to the papers in Jonathan's hand. "But start with that first. After, we can start planning further into how we want to engage this. We're working with all different kinds of groups, both from within 79 and out. X-COM itself has dipped a few toes into this, so we'll have plenty of resources backing us up."

The hooded man held up the stack. "I'll get on it, sir. And let me know if there's anything you need me for specifically. Reapers are particularly good at finding out things and getting into places where we really shouldn't be."

"Oh, you'll be the first to know, Charon. I promise you that," the man said cryptically.

With a nod, Jonathan left the office, entering his own and settling down into his chair. With several small grumbles, he eventually began to start on the paperwork, picking up the pen from beside his keyboard and settling in. He remained there for a long while, sinking into his mind and monotonously completely his task. While paperwork was never difficult in any facet, it didn't change the fact that it was incredibly boring. He loved the job overall, but he still didn't understand why there was so much paperwork he had to fill out for even the smallest of things. Every shot fired, every order given, taken, or word spoken. It was even relatively tedious at times.

But he eventually finished his task, sitting up straighter from his somewhat hunched position and stretching. Clasping his hands together and lifting them high above his head, he groaned as his shoulders loosened, finally allowed some manner of movement. He glanced to the clock, seeing nearly three hours had passed since he had begun. He stood, stretching his legs and lower back next. He hated sitting for extended periods of time.

But then he heard a knock at the door to his office. "Come in!" he called, leaning forward and touching his toes, grunting as he heard a pop from his back. He didn't see who had opened the door, but they silently watched him. He straightened up, looking into the blue eyes of Aisha, who had remained standing in the doorway, watching the Reaper closely.

"Jonathan," she said awkwardly.

"Oh, Ai! Hey," he sputtered. "Good to see you. Just finished my paperwork and was stretching. Sorry about that. Did you just get back?" he asked, picking up the stack.

"I did. I was surprised to hear from Wisp that you were here. I would have thought you would still be at home with your mother. Resting," she ended with a slight glared aimed at his neck.

"Well, I was. And I did. And now I'm here." He smiled warmly at her, hoping to get her focus elsewhere. It seemed to somewhat work, if her turning her head away and clearing her throat was any indication.

"Did you simply leave your mother at home alone?" Aisha asked, moving backwards to let Jonathan leave the room.

"No. She has a key to use as she pleases. She's currently going around and exploring the city on her own. Reapers get cramped up after being in one place for so long without any new stimulation. As nice as it is visiting with my mother, there's only so long both of us can handle being basically locked up in that apartment and just going around to get food. I just hope she doesn't shank someone while she's out and about. That's all I'd need," he said only half joking.

Aisha let out a brief snicker. "Well, hopefully you do not get a call about her. That would certainly ruin your time together."

Jonathan knocked on Hawkeye's door, opening it while keeping his attention on her. "Oh, for sure. I told her I didn't want to visit her in a cell."

Hawkeye looked up at his operatives, having been typing away at him computer quickly. He nodded to them. "Finished with your homework, Jon?" he asked.

"Yup. Dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's, just like you asked. Start to finish." He placed the paper onto the desk with a faint slap.

"Excellent. Just so long as you didn't put any little hearts over the i's like Abe does, it'll be fine," Hawkeye said with the smallest of smirks.

"Damn, that's a great idea. I'll be sure to do that next time, sir," Jonathan responded.

"Why can I find myself believing that you would do that?" Aisha asked.

"Because it would be in character for me?" he asked the viper cheerily.

"Well... yes. But I doubt Director Kelly would appreciate receiving reports covered with hearts.

Jonathan shrugged. "I thought girls liked getting notes with hearts on them? Care to comment?"

She turned away from him, her voice quieting. "It would depend on who sent it."

Hawkeye added nothing to their banter, instead just shaking his head with a chuckle. Then he looked up at the two of them, his eyes jumping between his two operatives as he started to seemingly get lost in thought. After a short beat he finally spoke. "You both seem to get along rather well," he said.

The duo turned to their superior. Aisha nodded swiftly. "Yes, sir. Jonathan is a good friend and teammate."

Jonathan couldn't help but notice how quickly she had said that. She seemed almost embarrassed. He continued to find himself growing more and more curious if maybe she was interested in him and just didn't know how to express it. After all, he wasn't much different. But he wasn't going to just leap in to find out. Especially not with his boss in front of him.

"I see. Jonathan, you're awfully quiet. Your thoughts?" Hawkeye stated, turning his attention to the human.

Jonathan just gave as casual a shrug he could give without looking like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar. "I agree with her. She's awesome. It's nice to have someone to joke around with."

Hawkeye hummed softly to himself, glancing between the two a few more times, watching as they seemed to wilt under his gaze. Then he plainly asked, "Is there anything going on between you two?"

Both their eyes widened, the silence the office descended into was thick enough Jonathan was sure he could cut through it with his knife. Hawkeye waited for them to speak, his hands folded together on his desk as his soul piercing gaze slowly jumped from the viper to the human, back and forth over and over. But he did begin to talk once again after the painful silence continued to stretch on with no sign of ending.

"It's a simple yes or no question. And neither either option is going to get you in trouble," he assured.

"Well," Jonathan started. "What do you mean by 'anything going on between us'?"

Hawkeye sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hand. "It's not rocket science, Jon. Are you two seeing each other romantically?"

Jonathan looked at Aisha briefly, seeing the viper was glancing at her hands as though they held some answer. Jonathan swallowed, directing his attention back to his boss. "No, sir. We are not," he answered calmly.

Hawkeye nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Alright. That's all I needed to know. You can both go and do whatever it is you were planning on doing." He began to return to what he had been working on, typing away at his keyboard carefully. Aisha and Jonathan began to leave when Hawkeye called back out to Jonathan. "Actually, a moment, Jon? Something I forgot to mention. Your ears only."

The Reaper nodded, briefly glancing to Aisha as she left the office, closing the door behind her to leave the two humans alone. Jonathan remained standing, but placed himself next to the chairs, suddenly feeling like when he was a kid and set before a superior after having been caught getting into trouble. He did not miss the feeling in the slightest. And it wasn't helped when Hawkeye didn't immediately begin talking, instead just keeping his complete focus on the screen, letting the Reaper stew with his own thoughts.

"I might have a mission for just you in the near future," Hawkeye finally said, keeping himself turned towards the screen, but letting his eyes drift sideways and meet Jonathan's. "It would be a solo mission, considering that I'll need the others to run something else on their own around the same time. It will be dangerous, and if you get into trouble you'll be without any backup. I won't even be able to communicate with you during the operation due to the situation I have planned. But it could help us get a lead into this chemical weapon and where it magically disappeared to."

Jonathan immediately calmed, realizing it was work related and didn't have to do with the viper. He didn't know how well he would have been able to hold up a front if Hawkeye had pried more into his true feelings towards Aisha. Mostly because he didn't want to lie to his boss. That could only end poorly. But it would also have been awkward if his boss had asked the right questions as well.

"Just say the word, and I'll be ready for it, sir." He smirked at his leader. "If it's something only I can do, then I'll be sure not to mess it up. Don't you worry."

"That's what I like to hear. I'll make sure to find out and plan more specifics and keep you posted on that front. But for now, I'm sure you'd like to go and catch up with your 'friend' out there," Hawkeye said smugly.

"Uh, yeah, I would," Jonathan responded meekly while beginning to turn away.

"And some friendly advice?" Hawkeye began, not bothering to wait for Jonathan to turn back around. "Dancing around won't get you anywhere with her if you were looking for more than just friendship."

"Sir?"

"Let's just say I have some experience being where you are. In more ways than one. I also see how you both act around each other." The leader shrugged. "And I'm not one to tell my operatives how to live their personal lives. And I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I was against you both pursuing something despite working together."

"You worked with your wife?" Jonathan asked.

"When I was with X-COM, during the war against ADVENT. Thankfully, the Commander of the whole organization had no issues with it. In fact, he was rather supportive of me and my wife's relationship at the time. Of course, there were some rules. Which I'll probably have to make and go back over for workplace dating. Even though you and Aisha are likely to be the only ones I'll need the rule for."

Jonathan snorted somewhat dismissively. "Need it? You think we're going to get together?"

"Isn't that what you want?" Hawkeye asked plainly, raising a single eyebrow.

"Well," Jonathan tapered off. He couldn't lie to his boss. He let out a deep sigh. "Yes, sir. I would."

"Then I'll have to make sure I have some rules for when that happens," Hawkeye restated.

"You seem to have a lot of faith that she'll feel the same, sir," Jonathan said, crossing his arms as the faintest traces of doubt began to seep into his mind again. She had been acting strangely around him. And maybe it was because she was interested. Maybe it was because of something else. The Reaper had no idea, and that feeling wasn't one he enjoyed having.

"I have no faith in that, actually," Hawkeye responded with a genuinely warm smile. "Faith is believing in something that might not be true or might not happen. Which is why I'll need to make sure to have those rules ready. And you need to make sure you have a plan for asking her. If you don't have one already."

"Well, we were going to go do something once my mom left. So there's that."

Hawkeye nodded. "A good start. But like I said, don't dance around. Be honest and upfront. If you're waiting for a specific event or moment, you'll be waiting forever. Do you have any idea what you both are going to be doing?"

"Not yet no." Jonathan wasn't expecting to be getting dating advice from his boss of all places. But he'd take all the help he could get.

"Take her to something casual. You had already talked about doing something, so just go somewhere fun and spend time together. And if the evening goes well, ask her to go out with you again, but ask her out more formally. Don't say something like, 'Let's go do something again,' because that won't lead anywhere. You'll have to actually ask the woman out on an official date. Make it clear. After she says yes, you plan the date and you're off to the races," Hawkeye summarized.

"Just like that, sir?" Jonathan asked with a weak smile.

"Just like that, Jon. And if you need an idea, I've got one for you. My wife loves bowling and there's a nice bowling alley in the Residential District. You could invite her to that. It's casual, fun, damn near impossible to mess up. Just go, have some fun with a few games, eat some crappy pizza, then walk her home. Even Abe could pull off something like that," Hawkeye joked.

"Bowling? I've never been bowling."

"And? I doubt Aisha has either. You don't need to be good at it to have a good time. You just need to be able to aim a ball down a lane and hit some pins. It's not complicated. Stop getting hung up on the small things. You'll be fine."

"Ok, alright. I'll stop worrying about it, sir." Then Jonathan paused as he thought of something. "But, uh, sir? This might be a dumb question, but can vipers bowl? Would kinda defeat the purpose of taking Aisha somewhere to have fun if she can't really enjoy the thing we're there to do, right?"

"Trust me, Jon. Vipers are actually really good at bowling, in my many experiences in playing against them. You'll both be beginners, but you'll need every ounce of luck you have to beat her. If my wife's innate bowling skill is anything to go off of," the human said with a small smile.

Jonathan looked at the man with slight shock. "Wait, is your wife a..."

"Viper? Yes. But that's a story for another time, considering I've taken enough of yours right now. So go spend some time with Aisha before she wanders off. And then make sure you invite her bowling before you head home today. In fact, don't tell her it was my idea. If she asks, say you stumbled across it and thought it would be fun for the both of you. Since I have a good feeling that you've been looking for something to take her to for at least a while, yeah?" he questioned knowingly.

"Yeah, I have. Thank you, sir. I... don't really know what to say, or how to really respond to you having given me a playbook on asking her out. Especially since you're my boss."

"Advising my operatives is technically my job, so I'll just take the thanks. Now get out of here," Hawkeye said, waving the Reaper away.

"Alright. I'll see you later. And keep me posted on that mission."

"Done."

Jonathan opened the door, finally making his way out of the office and seeing Aisha was further down the hallway, leaning against the wall by the door that led into the op room. He gave her a wave and smile, making his way towards her. She returned the expression with one of her own. She opened the door for him to him pass first.

"What did Hawkeye need to discuss with you?" Aisha asked, the faintest twinge of worry in her voice.

He gave her a casual shrug, feeling much more calm now. "Just some work things I needed to be caught up on. More just semantics and talks of potential missions. Nothing set and stone yet, so I can't really explain much beyond that. But I hope I didn't have you waiting too long?"

"No. I was just thinking," she supplied, glancing away from Jonathan for the umpteenth time in the past several minutes.

Hearing what Hawkeye had told him about the viper, he felt a bit more confident in teasing her, so he did his best to hide his smirk when he asked his question. "What were you thinking about?"

Her eyes widened, almost causing the human to begin laughing. "Stuff," was her awkward, single worded response.

"Just stuff? Wow, sounds intense."

"Indeed. But it is not important to discuss. And there are more important things we could talk about or be doing at current," she said in a hasty attempt to change the conversation.

"Alright, fair enough. What did you have in mind?" Jonathan asked with genuine curiosity into what the viper had planned.

Aisha somewhat calmed, settling into her more professional doctor attitude. "I would like to look over your bruising. At a quick glance it looks much better, but I would like much more than a cursory glance. If you are fine with that?" she asked.

"No problems here. Just so long as you don't jab any needles into me," he commented.

"No needles. I just want to make sure you have actually been taking care of yourself."

"And risk earning your wrath? I would never!" Jonathan joked, giving a head nod to Andal as they moved past the holo-table he sat by and towards the medical room.

"I would not be mad at you, Jonathan. Just disappointed." He would have thought she was serious, had her lips not been pulled back into her serpentine smile.

"Wow, that sure does sound pretty bad. Guess it's a good thing I've been doing what you told me to," he said, pulling open the door to the white room for the shadowy viper.

She bowed her head to him in thanks, slithering in gracefully, unaware that Jonathan's eyes trailed down her back for a brief second and then swiftly up to the ceiling. "I am glad you took what I said seriously. The sooner it goes away, the better. I doubt you enjoy having to be careful around your neck for fear of hurting it."

He shook his head quickly, taking a seat on the chair in the middle of the room, only settling onto the side instead of leaning back into it. "Definitely better the faster it goes. It doesn't get in the way very often, but it certainly lets me know when it's not happy. And my mother keeps staring at it, much as she's trying not to baby me over it, she's only just barely keeping herself contained."

"She cares for you," Aisha said, moving close to the Reaper and gently tilting his head back with a hand. She was unaware of how her touch, even if just to allow her an easier view, was affecting him. "And considering how terrible it looked the first few days, I do not blame her for worrying. But it does look far better now. The edges are healing and fading very well. Tell me, does this hurt much?" she asked while gently placing a finger to the edge of the bruising and putting a small amount of pressure.

"N-Nope. Perfectly fine," Jonathan squeaked out.

"What about here?" she asked, moving her finger more towards the front of his neck while keeping the same amount of force.

"Not too much, no," Jonathan said, managing to get a better handle on himself.

"Here?" she moved to the very front, where the bruising was the worst.

He tensed more, not necessarily because it hurt, but because she had been dragging her finger so softly, her claw lightly dancing over his skin and leaving a trail of shocking sensations. But also because it did hurt. "A bit. But it's not bad or anything."

"I see. Well, continue to ice and compress. With how it looks, I would suspect another week at most. But it might be a little sooner." She pulled away from him, smiling at the sitting human. But she was slightly confused as to why his face had turned a remarkably bright red shade. "Do you have a fever?" she asked.

"What? No! Sorry, just a little stuffy in here, I guess. Probably just need to drink some more water," he supplied.

"Let me get you some." She moved to the fridge in the corner, digging out a small water bottle. She extended it to the human, remaining standing while he took a few small sips. But after a short beat, the human noticed her watching him and then slid over on the chair.

"Want to sit?" he asked, patting the cushion to his right.

"Oh, I am fine where I am," she said, feeling her own face begin to heat up at the thought of being within such close proximity of him.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I am. But thank you."

They both grew silent, with Jonathan drinking the cool water and Aisha trying not to watch him too obviously. After a painful moment, Jonathan finally began to speak, feeling his confidence having grown enough to finally take Hawkeye's advice.

"Hey, Ai, have you thought of anything you wanted to go do in a few days?" he started. If she had an idea, he wanted to hear that before putting out his own, having a feeling she would dismiss her own if he started with his.

"I do not. Not for lack of searching. But there are many different places and venues. But very few are... fitting for what we are doing," she said, embarrassment seeping into her voice.

"Fitting in what way?" he asked.

"Well, several are intended for people who are partners to partake in," she said.

"Partners? Like people who are dating?" he asked in clarification.

"Yes, that. Which we are not. I did not want to send the wrong message. That would not be right of me," she said awkwardly.

Jonathan almost wanted to ask if it would have been the wrong message, just to see her response. But he referred back to what Hawkeye had mentioned. If he was going to ask her out more officially, he needed to wait till after they had done something together more casually. So he shrugged, trying to act cool and unbothered, even if everything inside his mind was telling him to panic.

"I know what you mean. I spent quite a long while hunting too. But I think I found something pretty fun. You ever been bowling before?" he asked.

"I have not," she said while shaking her head. "I do not even know what that is."

"Really? It's pretty fun from what I've heard. I haven't done the real kind you do at an alley, but me and the other Reaper kids would sometimes line up old cans and then roll rocks to knock them over. Never worked that well, considering most of the rocks were shaped like eggs. But it was a fun way to pass the time. Plus, bowling alleys have pizza. And who doesn't love pizza?" he said ecstatically.

"I have not had pizza very much before, truth be told. But I would like to try some. And trying something completely new, like bowling, also sounds very fun." She gave the human a warm grin, looking into his eyes with her bright blue ones. "I would very much like to go bowling with you, Jonathan. Did you have a day picked out?"

"Not yet," he said. "My mother will be here for another couple of days. And depending on what happens with work, we may or may not be busy. So we can sort of plan it a little on the fly. The nice part about something relaxing like bowling, we shouldn't have to make a reservation or anything like that. Just show up, pay for a game or two and then go for it." He shrugged halfheartedly. "Shouldn't being the key word."

She nodded, her smile remaining fixed on her face. "I am certain it will be fine. I am free most every evening after we are finished here. So whatever day works best for you should also for me."

"Awesome! Then, we'll plan on planning on it," he said, finishing with a laugh.

"I look forward to it. But it is growing late, and I am certain you would like to get home to continue visiting with your mother. So I shall not keep you any longer, Jonathan." She began to make her way out of the room, pausing when he leapt up and darted in front of her to get the door. "Thank you," she said softly while slinking past him.

"I think she should be back, or at least getting close to getting back. So it might be a good idea to meet back up with her. Plus, I did promise to get some dinner with her once we were both finished running around. I am pretty hungry," he said.

"As am I. I have not had anything since breakfast. Do you know where you are getting food with your mother, yet?" she asked as they began to make their way towards the exit.

"Not entirely sure. But probably just something simple like a burger place. We're not exactly fancy or high end, us Reapers. So long as it tastes good and doesn't burn a hole in the wallet, we're pretty much fine with it." He had to stop himself from continuing, almost finding himself about to invite Aisha along to join them. But he knew that could only end in disaster. Pure, unfiltered, chaotic disaster. So instead he cleared his throat and asked, "What about you?"

She hummed in thought, pressing the button to call the elevator to the second floor. "There is a Chinese restaurant I enjoy ordering from. I will probably just order from there. I enjoy the way they prepare the chicken."

"Haven't had much Chinese food before. Is it some of your favorite?" he asked, stepping into the elevator as the door opened for them.

"Yes. It is very delicious. I should invite you to go there with me some time," she said without thinking as the door closed them both into the metal box. Then her words finally processed. "Not with any intention besides having you try the food, of course," she very quickly added, waving a hand in front of herself.

"Sounds like a great time," Jonathan said simply, keeping his eyes forward. The viper could barely see the smile on his face, noticing that he seemed remarkably calm.

They both once more grew quiet, but this time is a was a peaceful one. While it only felt slightly awkward, it wasn't oppressive or much noticeable. Just relaxed. The elevator eventually reached the first floor, the two of them exiting side by side, unbothered by their close proximity to each other. The walk to the tram station was without words, the two just keeping their tranquil smiles painted on their faces. They waited with the crowd, Jonathan mostly watching the various people and what they were up to. Meanwhile, Aisha found her gaze drawn to the tall buildings, their glass panes reflecting the fading sunlight and hiding what was within from her view.

The tram eventually arrived, the feminine voice calling them back to attention. Letting those on board depart first, the duo entered, finding themselves swept up into the sea of people. Neither found a seat, standing next to and facing one another. Having tucked more of her tail underneath herself, Aisha towered over the human, gazing down at him and finding herself studying his face. Jonathan was doing the same, his eyes drawn to her facial structure. The main feature he found himself passing over repeatedly was her nose. He didn't know why, but the shape was so decidedly her. He didn't know if he could envision her without the smushed feature, upturned and alien even to her own kind. But it was her, and he was drawn to it.

To Aisha, however, Jonathan's face was filled with a plethora of strange things she could not help but trace her eyes over. While his hood covered most of it, she could just barely see the tips of his dark brown hair peeking out from below the article. And just above his lips and around his chin, she could see faint traces of facial hair beginning to come in. Had she not been as close as she was, she doubted she could have noticed otherwise. But while the premise of facial hair did confuse her a bit, she began to wonder if Jonathan had ever grown it out like some bearded individuals she had seen before and what he looked like.

Their staring contest of sorts continued, no words being shared as they took in the more precise aspects of the other, somehow not finding themselves embarrassed by both the close proximity and unabashed scouting of the other. The tram voice once more returned, letting the people know they would be arriving soon. Shaken from their stupor, both of them finally turned away, feeling as though a switch had been flipped and they needed to turn their focus anywhere else. Jonathan might have found it funny, had he not been having other thoughts infect his mind. He wondered if Aisha was having similar ones.

The door to the tram opened and they both began to make their way out with the other departing passengers. Jonathan had almost lost sight of her in the vast crowd, having to spend more time trying to avoid being knocked over and trampled than where his viper companion was. Managing to finally free himself from the crushing swarm, he waited for Aisha to also make her escape. She found her way to him after a short delay, having to weave her slender frame between several larger alien individuals that were standing around and blocking her.

She reached him, motioning with her head for him to begin walking. The two started their short trip down the sidewalk side by side, Jonathan placing his hands into his pockets as they moseyed forward, remaining close enough to almost touch shoulders. Occasionally, they would move away, striding past a group of people walking or around individuals waiting in the middle of the path. Reaching where they would separate, they both paused to face each other.

"Well, I guess this is where we make like bananas," Jonathan said light heartedly.

Aisha only looked at him in confusion. "I do not understand."

"Because we're going to split?" he said.

She only shook her head. "I am sorry. I still do not get the meaning of making like a banana and what splitting has to do with that."

Jonathan laughed, not caring if some nearby people looked at him in confusion from the sudden outburst. "Never change, Aisha." He started. "A banana split is a dessert you eat. So that's why people say that."

She nodded to him. "I see. I have never had one before. Are they good?"

"I'm not a huge ice cream guy, but they aren't bad. If the bowling alley sells them, I'll get you one, how about that?" he offered.

She looked down, faintly smiling. "I would enjoy that, Jonathan. But we shall decide on that later, once you have finished spending some quality time with your mother. I do not mean to keep taking up so much of your time. It just seems to happen."

"I like you taking up my time, Ai," he said. He was surprised how easily it came out, especially with how much it seemed to affect her.

She wrung her hands together briefly before saying, "As do I. But I cannot take away from your mother's brief time anymore. So go to her. And I shall see you at work tomorrow, if you're coming in again?"

"I'll definitely be seeing you tomorrow. Someone has to help keep an eye on Abe after all," he said jokingly. "I'll see you then, Ai. Have a good evening, ok?" He began to walk away from her, feeling decidedly better about his stance with her than he had for the past several days. He felt good. In a way he hadn't for a long time. And it was nice.

Aisha let out a weak farewell, watching as the human, whether consciously or not, seemed to magically disappear into the churning crowd of the city. She remained looking after where he had been until a muton brushed past, muttering that she should move. She offered an apology and began to make her way towards her apartment. She followed the familiar path without really giving much thought into her journey, mostly thinking of the Reaper that still continued to dance in the shadows of her mind. Just out of reach but always there.

Every time she finally felt she was getting a grip on her emotions around him, learning to control herself and not look the fool, he found some other way to catch her off guard. And while she had no one to blame but herself for her actions, she couldn't help but wonder if Jonathan knew and was attempting to taunt her on purpose. As if knowing about her infatuation with him. But that begged a new question. One that both worried and excited her at the potential prospects.

If he knew, what were his thoughts, and what was he going to do?

On one hand, she found some small semblance of hope that maybe he also returned her interest. After all, he had agreed to spend time with her, and often told her that he greatly enjoyed her company. She doubted he would have done so if he wasn't at least somewhat interested. But on the other hand, he also might have been entertaining her childish thoughts for any number of reasons. While she ruled out any malicious intent from the Reaper, she could not dismiss the possibility that maybe he didn't know how to tell her he wasn't interested. Maybe he was afraid of hurting her feelings in some facet.

Or maybe, he was much like her, unsure how to go about confessing his thoughts. After all, their situation was far more complicated than most relationships, she felt. They were part of a specialized unit in a pseudo shadow war. Being attached to each other could have dangerous consequences, besides the obvious that there was always the chance that one of them might not make it back from a mission. She shuddered as she remembered that just a few days ago Jonathan had been mere moments away from death had she not happened upon him and his attacker.

But as valid as those concerns were, there was a much greater one, the biggest hurdle for them to overcome and the most obvious to any who would see them together. They weren't the same. She was a viper and he a human. There was already a massive gap there, leaving a glaring lack of connectivity that could cause any manner of issues. While socially there was not much dislike for relationships between different species, at least in 79, many places and individuals around the world looked down upon mixed species relations. The war wasn't that long ago. Many still had deep wounds. And maybe even Jonathan did in some fashion. He had not had a traditional upbringing, being heavily involved in the war, having likely lost people he cared about. People he knew who just never came home.

And then she reached the biggest metaphorical nail in the coffin. Not only was she a viper and he a human, but he was also a special breed of human. A Reaper. A shadowy group who hunted aliens for sport with terrifying efficiency. He had been ingrained with anti-alien sentiment from the time he could walk. And while he was so very adamantly not a firm believer in their doctrines that preached hatred to anything non-human, she doubted it would be easy, if not impossible, for him to see her as a potential romantic partner. She could only imagine the difficulty he had faced just trying to adjust to such a heavy alien population so rapidly.

She couldn't fathom him being able to view her as anything besides just a viper, much as she might wish it. And even if, somehow, he did, there was the fact that he might potentially have to throw away his kinship with the Reapers if ever they found out about his relationship with an alien. He had told her how his mother distrusted and hated all aliens, how her sentiment was almost exactly the same as most every Reaper on the planet. What if they had a relationship that grew serious? They wouldn't be able to keep it from his mother forever. And Aisha knew she would never approve of them being together. She did not want to cause a rift between Jonathan and his mother.

And that was merely a simple outcome. If his mother ended up valuing the doctrines of the Reapers more than him and telling the entire faction, he would likely be completely ostracized. The family he knew, the people who he had bled for and idolized would hate him. And she did not want to be responsible for that. She couldn't. She would not put him into a position where he had to choose between her and what was essentially his entire world. She could never willingly inflict such cruelty upon him simply because she was attracted to him.

She entered her apartment, mindlessly locking the door behind her. Wandering into her dwelling, she settled onto the large, cushioned chair in the corner of her living room, sighing tiredly as she let herself begin to relax. She couldn't help but wonder about the potential future between her and Jonathan. She was uncertain if she should make the first step, just to simply be done with the annoyance of being stuck in the middle ground she felt trapped in. Find out if he was interested in pursuing anything or not and then be done with it. She could not let this hold her back from performing her job, not that it had up until now, but she would rather keep such a thing from potentially happening in the future.

"I need to tell him. I need to be honest with him, as soon as possible. Perhaps after we go bowling? It could make for good timing." She hummed to herself while idly scratching her neck, aiming her claws between her scales. "Yes. That is what I shall do," she resolved. Regardless of the outcome, she knew she would feel better after finally letting out her thoughts to the human. Of course, she did have a preference to the outcome. Despite everything, imagining him returning her affection would be something she could only dream of having come true. And if there were problems that arose, she would face them with him.

And in the event he turned her down, she just hoped they would be able to remain good friends, still able to go and spend time together and laugh like they had been. She curled up in her spot, eyelids feeling heavy as she decided a short nap wouldn't be inappropriate. The rest her day was free after all. She could spend it however she pleased. She let out a long breath, closing her eyes and wondering what Jonathan was currently up to now.

---

"Alright, last bout. You ready, Johnny?"

"Ready to kick your ass? Always," Jonathan returned with a cocky smirk to his mother. He settled into his stance, karambit held in his right hand and extended. His mother was ready much like him, but her knife was held in her left hand. They began to circle each other, taking care not to get too close to the walls of the apartment. Even having moved the furniture aside to make more space, their miniature sparring ring still left them rather close together to start.

His mother gave her karambit a spin, the black and red cloth attached to the sheathe drawing his eyes to it briefly from the sudden movement. Then she struck like a scorpion's tail, the covered blade screaming at his neck. Jonathan took his left hand, batting her blade downwards and away from him. But he snapped the arm back, immediately finding his mother's wrist had twisted and torn upwards to try and catch him at the elbow with the curved blade. Even with their sheathes to cover the blades, they would still hurt if he was hit hard enough.

He countered, bringing his own blade down and at her extended arm, aiming for her elbow. But she bent her arm, pulling her blade back and parrying his strike. Stepping into him, she grabbed the wrist holding his knife, making to move to cut him and disarm him. He swiftly rotated his hand, threatening to wrap the claw shaped blade around and into the exposed underside of her wrist. She released and snap back her hand, quickly sending out a strike with her knife aimed at his neck once more.

But he saw it coming, taking two actions in the same movement. With his left hand he grasped onto her elbow, pulling her arm to the side and sending her off balance while his right hand darted under her armpit. He hooked the blade underneath, then pulled just like she had taught him, knowing the act would have severed several tendons had the blade been uncovered. Then her pulled her arm down, going for her neck. She reached her right arm across her front, trying to keep his blade from her neck. With a precise twist, he got the blade around her fingers, making the motion of cutting into her wrist.

With that arm considered 'dead' she let it go limp. Then he placed the weapon to her neck, pausing and looking into his shorter mother's shocked eyes. "Dead," he said without emotion. He held the blade there for a second before lowering it and backing up. "So, how was that?"

"Damned fine, Johnny. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting you to get me so quickly," his mother said, spinning her knife before reattaching the sheathe to her belt. "But, like I said, you've always been a quick learner."

"You sure you didn't just let me win that last round? After a week straight of you 'killing' me, I just happened to get you right at the very end." He placed his knife on the countertop, moving into the kitchen to check on the meal he had been letting stew in a large crockpot for a few hours.

"I would never let you just win. You have to earn it. That's how you set good habits. You legitimately got me there." His mother moved into the kitchen, raising up on her toes to look over his shoulder at the stew. "Add some of this," she said, passing him a small spice bottle.

"Thanks," he said while taking it. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to get a win on you for a long while."

"You have plenty of knife experience already. So that helped a bit. Even if karambits don't play much like others, the base is level is already set. And that's the hardest part to teach. Course, you still have plenty to learn. You know how to use it on human-like targets. It'll help you against hybrids and sectoids. But against bigger things, like mutons and vipers? I haven't really covered those, so you'll have to learn those on your own. I have a little training guide I'm going to leave with you, so you'll have a general idea of how to engage those types. And you said you were training with your teammates, yeah? Maybe they wouldn't mind letting you toss them around and stab them," his mother offered, surprising Jonathan that she would suggest for him to work with aliens on his knife play.

"I could definitely do that. We don't have a muton on the team, though," he said with a shrug. "But I'm sure Ai-Aspis wouldn't mind helping me practice taking down a viper," he quickly managed to cover himself, using her code name instead of her real name.

"Aspis is the one who saved you, right?" his mother asked.

"She is. She's our doctor as well. She's really smart, knows what she's doing during ops, and is a good teammate," he said, easily finding himself praising the viper.

His mother gave a short huff, not dismissive or rude, but in a way that left Jonathan confused as to her thoughts on the viper. "You seem to think highly of her."

He shrugged with exaggerated motion. "Well, yeah. She did save my life after all. Kinda hard not to, ya know?"

"Well, that is true. She does have that going for her above the other snakes. You'll have to thank her for me," she said in a way that made Jonathan wonder what she was thinking.

"I... I'll do that. I'm sure she'd appreciate the thanks." The two silent watched as the meal continued to cook, with Jonathan awkwardly hoping his mother wouldn't press with more questions into his serpentine teammate.

Thankfully, she pointed out to him that the food was going to be ready soon and split off to get their plates and silverware. He moved to help her, setting the table while she put the contents of the pot onto their plates. Settling down, they both began to eat the meal, Jonathan wondering just what exactly what going through his mother's head. He had a feeling he would find out soon enough, but he would have preferred knowing so he could think of a good response in case it was dangerous ground to discuss. Her visit was almost through, and he didn't need her finding out in the eleventh hour that Aisha and Aspis were the same person.

"So, what's your work going to look like once I'm gone? Back to running dangerous missions and sneaking around the bowels of the city?" she asked between a bite.

Jonathan finished chewing what was in his mouth, nodding in the interim. "Yup. I have a potential solo mission lined up. Requires Reaper specialty to complete, if it's even needed. We're trying to find the thing we had been attempting to secure at the docks as soon as possible."

His mother's eyes narrowed. "Is it a bomb?" she asked. "I know technically you can't tell me, but you can tell me if I guessed right."

He shook his head slowly. "Honestly? I kinda wish it was a bomb. At least a bomb can be disarmed and has a set level of destruction. That's all I should really say on that, though."

She nodded at him. "I understand. Just... Johnny, be careful. And I mean really fucking careful, ok? Trust your training, trust your instincts, and nothing else. I know you have this team backing you up, unless you end up going on this solo thing, but even then, they aren't always going to be there. What would have happened if that viper hadn't found you?" she asked.

"I'd be dead," he said simply. "I know. I was sloppy. I won't make that mistake again. You know I've always been good about learning from my mistakes. Especially when they almost get me killed," he attempted to lighten the mood. It only seemed to partially work.

"Learning from mistakes is good. But sometimes you can only make a mistake once before the lights go out for good. So don't let that happen. You hunt, you hide, and, if necessary, you fight tooth and nail, alright? Do not let me get a letter or a call saying you didn't make it back, ok? I know we've had this conversation lots of times before. But that doesn't mean it stops applying." She reached across the table, taking one of his hands and tightly holding it. "We're the only family we got left. I'd rather we both stick around long enough for you to make me a grandmother."

Jonathan coughed, having accidentally inhaled the food in his mouth at her comment. He cleared his throat, following it up with a large gulp from his water. "Mom! What the hell?" he shouted.

"It could happen! I'm just saying, I'd love to be able to have you visit with your wife and a little one. I've been looking into getting some land out in the Midwest of the States. I've had my eye on this one area for a while and have been working towards getting it in my name. I want to build a nice little house out there and retire. Sit on the front porch and just shoot the shit out of whatever comes by. Could be a great place for you to visit with a little one and let them just run around and have fun. I'll be the fun grandma, just in case Aisha's side isn't," she teased.

"Mom! Literally just friends with her! You're thinking way too damned far ahead here!" he yelled, waving his hands around himself wildly.

"Hey, it's not impossible. Anything could happen!"

"Yeah," Jonathan grumbled. "Pigs could start flying too."

"Oh, come now, I'm sure if you ask her on a date she'll say yes. What reason would she have to say no to you? You're a strapping young man. Until you start making noise, but we can't all be tens," she said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it'll just go swimmingly," he said, leaving out the true reason why he knew there would be some difficulties. After all, he doubted his mother would let Aisha visit if she knew she was a viper. And kids? Unless they adopted, he was fairly confident in saying they wouldn't be having any children, for the obvious reason of being different species. Not that he necessarily disliked the idea of having a kid or two. Just that it seemed very unlikely given current circumstances.

"Hey now, you just need a battle plan. Do you have anything yet?" she asked, completely oblivious to her son's grievances.

He sighed, resting his head in a hand. "Yeah, I do."

His mother looked at him expectantly for a few seconds, waiting for him to speak. "Well?" she finally asked. "What is it?"

He chuckled. "We're gonna go bowling sometime soon. Just hang out, have a good time. And then I was going to ask her out more, I don't know, officially? I guess you can put it that way. Officially ask her out afterwards, unless it ends in total disaster, at which point I'll probably take it as a sign from God and hold off."

"Oh, Johnny, it'll go great! Just make sure you don't focus on the little things. It's easy to over plan and stress over every tiny detail. Just have fun, and everything else will fall into place," she said, not realizing the irony that left her son laughing. "What?" she asked.

"It's funny hearing you say that, since I was worrying about the little things for your visit for like two weeks leading up," he snorted.

"What? Why? I'm super easy going!" she said defensively.

"Mom, you almost picked a fight with a muton the other day just because he looked at you funny," Jonathan said with slight annoyance.

She shrugged. "He shouldn't have been staring."

"You were literally staring at him first! He probably thought you were trying to start something with him, not the other way around!" Jonathan countered.

"Semantics," she added flippantly.

"Christ on a bike, lady. You're killing me." Despite his words, he was smiling at the playful banter. "But I'll make sure not to sweat the little things, if that makes you feel better."

"It does. And I'm glad you told me. I know I can be..."

"Overbearing? Nosey? Moderately to severely crazy?" he supplied before taking a bite of his food.

"Shut it. Point is, I know you don't usually share things with me because I get far too involved or invested than what you'd prefer. Which I definitely need to keep working on not doing. Old habits die hard though. We Reapers just like getting into things we shouldn't. But I'm glad you shared this with me. It means a lot to me, even if it might not seem all that massive in the grand scheme of things, what with all the crap you're dealing with for work and whatnot. But I'm glad you are sharing with me."

Jonathan smiled, feeling a small inkling of guilt for not being completely honest with her, but know it was going to be better in the long run. "Well, you're my mom. I only got one. And you're pretty ok most of the time."

"You too, ya little shit." She then noticed they both had finished. "Now, how about you clean up the plates, and I'll make some dessert. I picked up the things for it while I was out the other day, so I might as well use them since I can't take them with me."

"Deal. After all, I'm only just barely getting this cooking thing. Baking would go right over my head." He stood up, taking her plate and making his way to the sink.

"You'll have to learn at least some baking tricks. Might help you get some brownie points with Aisha if you give her something tasty," his mom said, putting extra stress on 'brownie'.

Jonathan only booed her, turning on the water and beginning to clean the plates. "That pun was bad, and you should feel bad."

"Better than yours! I've been making puns longer than you've been alive," she stated.

"Oh, I forgot. You went to the same school as Moses, right? Were you there when he parted the Red Sea, too?" he said, laughing when she slipped beside him and splashed his face with the water from the faucet.

"Keep that up and I'll give you a free ride to Jesus with same day shipping," she warned, the threat lacking any real bite.

"Alright, if I apologize then do you promise not to poison the desserts?" he offered.

"Only if you promise to let me know how your little bowling trip goes afterward. Then I'll call us square," she offered.

"Deal."

Spending the rest of the evening relaxing was easy for the both of them, even with the knowledge that tomorrow his mother would be returning to her home across the country. But maybe sometime soon she would be moving closer, if her plans of buying land nearby went through. He wouldn't mind having her visit more often, even if there was the potential of her learning some of his secrets. He would share them in time. He just needed to make sure it was when he planned it and not her finding out on her own. But he would cross those bridges if he got there. Not that he planned on it.

---

"I guess this is where I send you off into the world. It only felt like yesterday you didn't have gray in your hair," Jonathan said, mock sorrow in his tone.

"Shut your face hole and hug me, you little punk," his mother said aggressively, letting go of the handle on her bag to extend both arms to her son.

He snickered, wrapping his arms around her and holding tightly. "I'm gonna miss you, mom," he said without any hint of teasing.

"Me too, sweetie. But with me trying to wind down my role with the Reapers, I should be able to visit more often. While I won't ever really retire from being a Reaper, they'll start to need me less and less," she said.

"Well, buy your land, get some chickens and a goat so you'll be much closer. Then maybe I can visit too, alright?" he offered.

"I'd love that. I'll even get a donkey to name after you."

"Because I'm an ass?"

"Because you're an ass," she said, laughing bittersweetly afterwards. "But you're my little ass." She tightened her hold. "I hate saying goodbye. But I can't be late for my flight either. So I need to go now before I can't. So just promise me one more time that you'll be safe, trust in your training, and keep in touch."

"I can do all of those things, mom. And I won't forget to call you after I ask Aisha out, since I know you were going to mention that next."

"I did teach you well," she joked. "But that's good. I want to hear how it goes." She released him, placing a hand on his cheek and scratching at the small amount of facial hair coming in. "And maybe shave beforehand. You're a little scraggly right now."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother. Whatever you say, mother."

"Blah, blah," she replied back, grabbing her bag and beginning to walk into the airport proper. "Behave, Johnny!" she called over her shoulder.

"Right back at ya!" he returned. He watched her leave, returning to the taxi only once she had vanished from his sight inside the building. He began to wonder when she would next visit him. Even if she had just left, he knew he was going to start missing having her around in a few hours. Especially since the visit had gone so well. That was something he could work out with her next time they talked. Not that it would be too distant in the future from now. Now he only had work and his outing with Aisha in his immediate future. And both were leaving him excited for them to arrive.

He pulled out his phone, sending a message to his teammate and letting her know that his mother had just left. He was surprised when she responded quickly, the phone having only just been returned to his pocket when it chirped. He pulled the device back out, seeing a short and simple message asking how their time had been. He began to type out his response.

"It was nice. Makes me want her to come around a lot more. I'll tell you more of the specifics later while we're bowling if you'd like?"

"I would love to hear all about it. Speaking of, did you have a day that you would like to plan on? Of course, with the likeliness that a mission could arise at any point, we could set a date but not be afraid to move it."

Jonathan began to think, going over if he had anything planned for the next few days that he knew of. He checked the calendar on his phone, seeing it was the beginning of the week. He knew they had a unique luxury that outside of ops or emergencies, they would be free most evenings. He almost wanted to ask if her Friday would be free, but then realized that there was a high probability of the alley being swarmed with people. Not that he disliked people, but if it made it difficult or impossible to get in and get a lane then it would defeat the purpose of taking her there. And there was only so much on the fly thinking that he trusted himself to do.

But Thursday, he realized, could be a solid choice. Who would go bowling on a Thursday night? He checked the website of the alley Hawkeye had recommended, seeing their hours on Thursday went fairly late, giving far more than enough time for him to take Aisha and get a few games in. He moved back to his messaging app, typing up his idea to send to her.

"How about we plan on Thursday? We could get there at 6:30, play a few games and then both be home before it gets too late. And if we end up having a mission, we could just move it to the weekend."

There was a short delay before she responded, Jonathan's ride having reached his home. He had entered his apartment and sat down on his couch before his phone pinged him again. He fished the device out of his pocket, tapping her message to open it.

"That sounds lovely. Let's plan on that. I just hope Hawkeye does not need us for anything."

"Me too. But unless something changes, let's aim for that! I'm looking forward to smoking you!"

"I thought you haven't been bowling before?"

He smirked, laughing childishly at his phone. "I haven't. But that doesn't mean I don't plan on giving you a run for your money."

There was a brief delay before he got back two words that made his laughter grow louder. "Challenge accepted."

He stood up, making his way to his kitchen to make his dinner, finding himself growing even more eager for Thursday. Beginning with his prep, it wasn't long after when he received a message from someone different. Someone he had not expected. He found his chipper, happy feeling morphing to one of focus and determination.

"This is Hawkeye. I have your task for you. We'll discuss it more tomorrow. Make sure you'll be ready for it."

The Reaper side of himself began to show more, typing out his return message to his boss. "I'll be ready. When will it be, sir?"

Hawkeye responded almost immediately. "Wednesday night. Very, very late. You'll want to get some rest during the day."

"Yes, sir." He found himself relieved that the mission wasn't going to interfere with his plans. He would have felt terrible having to cancel on Aisha after having made plans with her just a few minutes prior.

He finished making his meal, eating it rather quickly since he had nothing to distract him. Once finished, he cleaned up his mess and felt himself growing tired. It had been a somewhat long day, and he was ready to finally turn in. Making his way to his room, he placed the items in his pockets onto the nightstand, gently lowering himself onto his bed and placing his coat over himself. He did not remain conscious very long, too tired to think of anything beyond how comfortable he was. Content to a measure he was not used to but welcomed with open arms.