Author's note: Thanks for the review!

She's insane. It's the only possible explanation for why she has come out here like this. Either that or she's a masochist. Maybe its both.

Either way, she finds herself heading to a park in the city's downtown. It's a better meeting place than a bar, at the very least, and Zane was the one to invite her. That's the only real reason that she's come. It's rare for him to offer an olive branch. Usually, most things with the stubborn former pro-duelist are final. His mind, once made up, is almost impossible to change or challenge. So, she decided to blame some of his actions – as she assumes he has – on the bad mix of pills, drink, and exhaustion. She'll hear him out.

She spots him easily enough. Initially, she's been a bit worried when he'd failed to give her better directions other than the entrance to the park, but there Zane is standing – which is a feat in itself – just in front of the main gates. She breathes a sigh of relief for seeing him there. He doesn't manage a smile, nothing to greet her with. The most he manages is to raise his head. He needs to sit down again, she realizes that quickly.

No pleasantries are exchanged as they pass one another. Instead, the pair make their way through the park. As soon as Alexis finds a bench, she parks herself down on it. She knows that Zane will be too proud to ask, so makes the decision for him in a way she feels might just be able to save him some face. He settles down next to her without so much as a word. Even as he settles there, she can tell that he's fighting against his own body. It must want to gasp a little, to try to make up for his breathlessness. He gulps all of that back. Concealing it as best as he can. It forces him to be silent for a while longer. So the woman distracts herself by taking in the surroundings. It's pleasant enough.

Eventually, her gaze comes back to rest upon her companion. He takes note, and lets out a sigh:

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"
"I will if that's what you really want." She answers simply. "-But you know I just want to help."
"Of course. You're a good person Alexis."

Zane lets out a heavy sigh. He allows his shoulders to slump down. It's an unusual show of emotion for him. Alexis stares. He gives her the feeling that he's running on empty, but moreover that he's tired, terribly tired. It only lasts a few seconds, before he looks up. He isn't staring at anything in particular, but rather facing out a head of himself mindlessly.

"I'm guessing that Atticus, and Aster told you everything."
"They told me a lot." She answers.
"Then you know it's hopeless." Her old friend mutters grimly.

Of course she knows. She's done all of the research that the internet will allow, and her brother, and Aster have both cautioned her about hope. This is only going to end one way. So she manages to push such thoughts from her mind. She knows that Zane most certainly doesn't need to be reminded about any of it. Instead, she chooses another approach.

"How long have you known?"
"A while..." Zane clasped his hands together, as he thought. "It didn't start as much. I was tired. All the time… After duels, I just couldn't catch my breath. I knew what it was. I've been through this before. I didn't want to… But I did."

Alexis didn't interrupt. It all made some sort of sense, even although she wasn't really learning much that she couldn't have guessed, or imagined herself. He wants to take his hand. Let him know that he isn't alone, but she knows that he wouldn't welcome it (to put things mildly). So she holds off.

"Is that why you disappeared?"
"Disappeared might be exaggerating a little, but I certainly wasn't about to let the press get a hold of the story." Zane doesn't elaborate. "I don't want to be someone else's problem."
"-But Atticus, and Aster know." She can't help, but point out.
"I didn't want them to. After my last duel with Aster – my last proleague duel..." Alexis casts her mind back, she can just about remember it on TV. "I fell over backstage. I couldn't get back up. Aster saw me. He put things together. Made me go see a doctor..."

She's surprised that Aster cares that much. She wishes she could ask him why he does, but can't immediately think of a way to do so, without sounding insensitive. Perhaps that's something that she'll ask Atticus at a later date. The young man next to her shifts a little. He raises his head, and stares out in front of him. His dark eyes are dull these days. They seem to bear some terrible weight. It pains her to see. Still, he continues on as if he's oblivious to it himself.

"Aster's on the move all the time, so he roped that brother of ours in."
"I didn't know that they knew each other. At least not well."
"Even now, I don't know if they do." Zane shrugs in non-commitment. "Aster told me to bring someone else on board. Your brother was the only other person I could think of."
"What about Syrus?" Alexis questions tentatively.

She can almost feel Zane tensing up at the mere mention of his younger brother. She still keeps track of Syrus. Although the years have certainly caused them to drift apart. She can't actually remember off of the top of her head the last time that she actually spoke with the youngest of the Truesdale brothers. She knows that he still duels. He's on television from time to time. Zane however has been absent for a while, and naturally the media speculates as to just why. The last theory that had been circulated, and seems to have been generally accepted by the rest of the world as the truth was that the brothers had had an argument, and gone their separate ways. Hopefully she'll know if there's any truth to it or not:

"He's not to know about me."
"Don't worry… I haven't told him." She assures her old friend.
"I don't want him to know about me. I'm not going to become his problem."

Alexis manages to bite back a comment about just how Syrus will probably be worrying about him more for not knowing where he is, or how he's doing, than he would be with the truth. About the only thing that Zane is doing is sparing him having to actually watch the slow process of his heart giving out. It might be a mercy in that regard, but at what cost? She tries to put herself in Zane's shoes, as difficult as such a task is, and ask herself what she would do. Could she tell Atticus in all good faith that she was dying painfully slowly, and that there was nothing that could be done about it?

She doesn't labor the point. Although doesn't entirely let it slip from her mind. For another time perhaps, assuming that Zane doesn't cut her out of his life altogether after today. When he remains quiet, she dares to continue:

"What now?"
"I'm stage C." Zane answers. "Stage D is the end. I'm guessing you know what's involved?"
"Yeah..."

She's looked it up. When stage D rears it's ugly head, he'll be in and out of hospital, and eventually bedridden. The fact that he's still mobile, and fearing for himself gives her some hope that he still has a fair bit of time left. She could probably have guessed that he was stage C without him telling her. His symptoms matched up well enough.

"So you're just going to wait it out?"
"What else is there to do?"

Fight. She wants to tell him that. He seems intent to just allow himself to run out of steam. She feels like at some point in his life, that's exactly what he would have done. Alexis holds off. She wonders how she can put such a simple imperative into words without sounding as if she's underestimating what he's going through right now. It's very easy to tell someone to keep fighting, and not to give up, when she didn't know exactly what it was like to be in their shoes.

Alexis can't help but feel pity for her friend. Even although she knows he doesn't want it. She holds back a sigh. Wondering if he might prefer her to leave him to his life so that he can get back to the way things were. If she's entirely honest with herself, she knows that he probably would.

"You don't need to face this alone, you know."
"It's better this way."
"If it were Syrus, or Atticus who were sick, you'd look after them."
"It's not the same..." Zane shakes his head. "I won't be a burden to them. I don't want them – you – to waste your lives watching me waste away."

She wonders how to make him understand. In truth, she has to wonder if he's even capable of it. Is it stubbornness, or is he genuinely unable to comprehend just why it was that they would want to be by his side?

Alexis lets out a shaky sigh. It gives her just a little more resolve.

"Well, I know now, and like it or not, I'm not leaving you. So let me know how I can help."

His dark gaze rests upon her. She finds no anger, or resentment there. For a moment, it almost seems as if he's rediscovering her. Tentatively, despite the current situation, she decides to offer him a gentle smile. It's one that promises that her words aren't empty. She'll help him. No matter what it takes. He shies away after a moment, and lowers his head.

"I need to go get medicine sometimes. If I'm sick, it isn't easy."
"I can help you with that, and food time." She can't resist slipping in a little, playful jab. "Don't think I didn't notice those bare cupboards."

She expects a complaint. None come.

It's her first small victory.