Spencer nodded slowly. "Our weakness against threat isn't in our weapons. It's not in our skill. If its anywhere, it'll be in our inability to work together." He turned his head to face Eve. "I'm not holding your past against you. God knows I have a past of my own that I'm not proud of." Spencer looked back into the bar, the warm yellow light spilling out from the doorway. He saw Chris there, sitting silent. "You should talk to him." He looked back at Eve. "He cares about you; immensely. Don't let that die."
Chris downed another pair of shots, and ordered two more. "Relax pal," the bartender said. "Why don't you let those settle first. I'm not cutting you off, but i think you've had enough for now, come see me in half an hour." "Whatever you say, pal." Chris mumbled. The bartender smiled and put an elbow on the bar as he cleaned a glass. "... So what's her name?" "John." Chris said. "What?" the barkeep responded, no longer leaning on the bar. "Where's the John?" Chris clarified. "Oh, it's behind you, just beyond the dance floor." Chris followed the bartender's hand as he gestured toward the bathroom and saw Artie and Mika slowdancing. He'd have to walk right past them. "You sure i can't have another drink?" Chris asked, returning his attention to the bartender. "Half an hour." they both said simultaneously. Chris decided he was sufficiently numb for what he decided needed to take place. He stood and headed for the pair on the dance floor.
"You should talk to him. He cares about you; immensely. Don't let that die." Eve looked at Spencer frustration glinting in her eyes. “I can‘t do that, he made me promise him something I can‘t do. Wouldn‘t it be better for one of us to fall out with the team? Not the two of us, I care about Chris enough to care what happens to him and how his treated. It‘s best for him and I to stay apart.” Eve looked back towards the bar. "I don't want to cause fights or be a problem Spencer. If leaving myself out of the team means less problems I'm all for it."
Mika smiled a little at Artie's whispered comment. "Okay, this is a good a time as any," she said. She found she liked Artie. He was an endearing blend of hopeful smooth talker and open frankness. It was appealing as much as the fact that he didn't actively hate her. She wished things had worked out differently with Spencer but since the night he ended up with Helena she knew he wasn't really interested.
Chris clapped Arthur on the shoulder, he regretted having to interrupt what looked to be an intimate moment, but he needed to get this over with. "I owe you both an apology" he said, his voice grave. He decided to start with Arthur. "Art you've been there for me for as long as i care to rememeber. I shouldn't have yelled at you... I just... My emotions got the better of me, and I hope we can salvage our friendship."
"Okay, this is a good a time as any," she said. "Okay, I know this is gonna sound crazy... really crazy..." he started. "But I can't get you off my..." He was interrupted by a clap on his shoulder. Artie made a little face to Mika before turning to see his buddy Chris. He was glad to see him. Chris appeared to have something on his mind, so Artie was attentive. "I owe you both an apology" he said, his voice grave. He decided to start with Arthur. "Art you've been there for me for as long as i care to remember. I shouldn't have yelled at you... I just... My emotions got the better of me, and I hope we can salvage our friendship." Arthur smiled as his friend let him know they were still on good terms. He nodded at Chris. "Water under the bridge, bro. You know how we do." he said releasing one hand from Mika's waist to shake Chris' hand. "Our friendship never went anywhere in the first place, man."
"Thank you, you're a good friend Art." Chris looked to Mika. "Art give us a second, please? Her apology is going to be... a little more complex."
Spencer was silent for a long time, staring out across the snow and ice. "Eve. Have you ever let anyone close enough that they could try and understand what you're going through? And help you through it? Help you break it?" He turned to her. "Chris wants to do that for you."
"Her apology is going to be... a little more complex." I hope it doesn't include weapons. Mika slid from Artie's arms and stood uncertainly, half-looking up at Chris. "There's really no need." She said.
Artie made space for Chris to speak with Mika in private. He was glad to be on the same page with his good friend again, but his plans of being good friends with Mika were put on ice. Is anyone keeping score here? Poor Artie Boy. This time, he had everything well thought out and... you saw what happened. "Why? Why do I even try?" he said to himself once out of earshot.
"Chris wants to do that for you." Spencer said. Eve put a hand to her mouth and stood, the tumblers of scotch were empty now. Spencer meant well and if she could tell him what she truly meant by her words he’d surely be shocked. She took her hand away from her mouth, “I don‘t want him to do that for me. I‘m not a little girl, I‘m not lost. I know what I am, if I can‘t help me then how can anyone else. I don‘t want a saviour, I want someone to respect me for who and what I am. I‘ve never hurt another human being,” she cringed that was close to a lie. She had hurt someone once. Once in her whole life, she’d been stopped and she’d learnt from it. “And I swear I never will. You people keep looking at me and screaming out, oh no Reaver how can you trust it. But you all seem to forget I‘m half human too. So I‘m a little crazy big deal…” She threw her hands up then sat down holding her knees.
"I insist" Chris said, placing a hand on Mikas hip, and pulling her to a different section of the dance floor. "We'll be right back Art, This will only take a sec I promise to watch the hands." When Arthur was out of earshot Chris began sway in time with the slow beat of the song. He looked down into her eyes and thought; "Last night i pooped my pants." testing to see if she could read his thoughts. She looked back at him, with the same look of uncertainty she wore when he first walked up to them. Satisfied that she wasn't in his head, Chris began. "Mika, I... There was no way i could've known what happened to you. I'm sorry for what i said back there, i'm sorry i yelled at you. I just saw you pointing a gun at Eve, and I... I just lost it... You were right about me not being ready to hear what you had to say, as you no doubt deduced from my response." Chris said, not wanting to repeat what was said. "Though i'm not entirely certain that i'm wrong about the possible outcome of the experiment, I'm sure what you're going through is not easy."
Mika took a moment to process what he'd just said. Through the haze of vodka he seemed earnest enough. "That's fair enough. I'm not certain about the outcome of the experiment myself." Mika sighed and allowed herself to sway naturally with Chris, looking up into his face. Angry as they'd been with each other she couldn't help enjoying it. "Though I have to admit your concerns hadn't occurred to me before. I feel kind of stupid for not thinking of that. What I was thinking of was that it was an approved government experiment...Hawke knows about it though he didn't know that it would be tested on this mission." She blew out a breath, "Anyway...I'm sorry about all of this. I honestly didn't have time to think before I had that reaction to Eve. I don't think she's the forgiving sort, though."
"Nobody's forgetting that, Eve." He stepped over to her and crouched at her side. "We want to bring more of that humanity out, and help you let go of the past that haunts you. Whether or not you'll let someone is your own choice. "I want you with us. You're skilled and you're critical to this mission. Whatever you decide, that won't change." He paused. "But I think you should give it a try."
"Tell me about it." Chris said scanning the bar for her again. "She's one tough nut to crack. I haven't seen her since the whole thing went down." Chris caught a glimpse of Arthur standing off by himself, and decided to hurry things up. He looked back down at Mika. "Mika, there's another reason i wanted to talk to you alone." He pulled her close, and whispered into her ear. "When you touched her... you said you saw something... What did you see?"
"We want to bring more of that humanity out, and help you let go of the past that haunts you. Whether or not you'll let someone is your own choice.” The rest of his words seemed a thousand miles away. Was she not human enough? She guessed he could be right, she killed with calm and took the time to play with her victims, did that make her inhuman? She flushed with anguish and took a deep breath. “How nice…” she managed to say absently. “would you excuse me for a moment.” Spencer looked thoughtful Eve was starting to feel very aggravated. She’d leave him to think what he would about her and stomped back into the bar for another drink, it was hardly making an impact on her, Eve felt sober. She stopped in the middle of her angry march as she spotted Chris dancing with Mika, it took all of her restraint not to let her jaw drop. Eve took a deep breath and simply swept past the pair with her head down. So he’d gotten frustrated enough to go dancing with other women? She prayed neither would be brave enough to speak with her.
Artie, standing off alone, looked down at his bandaged hand a minute. He still can't believe he crushed that glass. That was stupid. If Artie could have a pass for dumb things he's done, it wouldn't be granted for that. That was just boneheaded. He laughed a little to himself and shook his head. When he looked up, he saw Chris and Mika were dancing together. Artie didn't know what to think of this. Apology, huh? And why not? Artie felt stupid because he wants to believe Chris likes Eve. He almost denounced a friend for her, and after he helped Chris save her life. The alcohol stirred Artie, his teeth grinding, his palms sweaty. His head often hurt when he got upset or confused, and those emotions were fighting for control of Artie's soul. He always felt helpless when he was confused, when he was angry, he'd just drink himself into something. Something like the glass crushing incident? Yes!!! He left his bottle at the table with Spencer who ended up leaving. He looked in the general direction of the table to see it not there anymore. Now Artie was pissed. He asked the bartender for another sour mash. The guy at the bar expected it, it was the most popular drink of the evening. As Artie rapidly gulped the libation, he saw a group that wasn't part of the team with a bottle. Looked like his bottle. Artie was livid. He snarled at the group. Artie cracked his knuckles and debated a little longer on whether or not he was mad enough to kick some ass over the bottle. He stewed for a moment.
"Mika, there's another reason i wanted to talk to you alone." He pulled her close, and whispered into her ear. "When you touched her... you said you saw something... What did you see?" Mika turned white to the lips and huddled against Chris, partially so that she could avoid his eyes. "Uh..." she really didn't want to tell anyone what she'd seen, "it was just...you know, confused images. I guess it was just the...um...emotional signature that gave her away." Mika menally cursed herself for saying anything about 'seeing' things. Maybe she could backpedal that a little.
Chris didn't have to be a mind-reader to tell she was lying. He half expected it, it must have been something horrible. He backed up a little to reestablish eye contact. He gave her a moment and tried again. "I'm a big boy Mika, I can handle it. Please... Tell me what you saw. "
Spencer tossed back the last of his whiskey. He then rose to his feet. If they didn't get back to the place where they could trust one another...this mission had no chance of succeeding, no matter how skilled each of them were individually. Spencer gazed again out into the snow, once again alone and lost. It seemed to be his path - his lot - to walk this earth alone. As soon as he allowed himself close to anyone, they died. Why was he trying so hard to be near someone again? Because he was tired of being alone. And yet, what could be done? Nothing. All he could do was hope for the death, the release, that had followed him wherever he went. He was done with this day. They wanted to be left to themselves, he would leave them to themselves. He walked back into the bar and saw Eve near the doorway, her eyes wide with shock. It was a simple thing to deduce. Chris was dancing with Mika. Spencer shook his head and sighed. So much for that. He stepped past Eve and set his empty glass on the bar.
Mika tried to avoid his eyes but he was persistent. "Chris, what if it was wrong?" she said low as possible, "After all, like you said, the results of the experiment are uncertain. What if what I saw never happened at all? Then I'd just be hurting Eve all over again and I don't want to be responsible for that." Mika dropped her eyes to chest level and resolutely stared straight ahead, "I think 'quit while you're ahead' applies here."
Chris decided to take one last stab at it. "True enough" Chris said. " but in your experience, are your powers often wrong?"
Mika thought of the axe arcing through the air where Spencer's head would have been, thought of the unerring accuracy of knowing where the attackers were. "I'm afraid it's been one hundred percent accurate," she told Chris for his ears only, her hand shifting a little on his shoulder as they continued to sway, "but I don't want to be held responsible for anything I tell you. I promise you, I am not doing anything out of malicious intent. I want this team to stay together and succeed in stopping the Drekk."
Eve ground her teeth as she watched the two speak with each other. She wasn’t much of a lip reader but she knew her name when it rolled off of someone’s tongue. She glared at Mika before asking for a can of bourbon when she was done drinking it she could pretend the can was Mika and crush it. It was better then they other thoughts that were rolling up in her mind. Eve wondered what else there was she could do, she could try and make them jealous, by trying to dance with someone else. Artie wouldn’t be her first choice he’d probably kick her a** for the time she’d almost gotten Chris frozen to death. She didn’t want to upset Spenser he’d been through enough with Helena. She was starting to get hazy now the alcohol flickering against her common sense. She sighed, it was stupid she was avoiding Chris but she couldn’t stand having Mika near him of all the people it had to be her. She walked over to the pair and folded her arms over her chest, her expression blank she still didn’t know what to do but she wasn’t about to back down from this. “Can‘t you at least wait until you‘ve killed me first? I mean fair enough, I‘ve kept my distance from Chris, but it wasn‘t an offer for you to move in and do whatever the hell you wanted. I know you hate me, but I‘d at least have a little f***** courtesy if I was in your shoes…”
"I believe you." Chris said, wondering if he still wanted to know. He paused a while before continuing. "Go on." But she didn't have a chance. “Can‘t you at least wait until you‘ve killed me first? I mean fair enough, I‘ve kept my distance from Chris, but it wasn‘t an offer for you to move in and do whatever the hell you wanted. I know you hate me, but I‘d at least have a little f***** courtesy if I was in your shoes…” "Eve!" Chris pushed Mika away, "It's not what it looks like. I was just apologizing. Her pointing a gun at you it was all a misunderstanding, she has mental abilities, she accidentally read your mind and before she knew what she was doing she'd raised her weapon on you." Chris realized he sounded like an idiot. His thoughts were racing, he had so much to tell her. "Why have you been avoiding me?" He took her arm. "Let's go somewhere and talk."
