"I'm sure you would very much like to know why I summoned you here today, mister Fisher..." He sat at his desk, in his office. It was bigger than Lori's old office; he'd broken down a wall.

The six foot bug, sans one half an antenna, stared at the ginger unblinkingly; not that that meant anything, he was sorely lacking in eyelids. He missed eyelids. He missed nothing else about being pink skinned, really, but eyelids were pretty neat.

On his desk, presented before the red headed Order agent, were two things. A sealed manila envelope, and what appeared to be a casserole dish covered in tin foil.

"So I will get right down to business. I ask two things of you this day. The first. I made peach cobbler. Only I don't recall ever owning any peaches. That considered, I'm not really sure what I've made. I must know what it is." He poked the tin foil, and it moved a bit more than something that wasn't alive might in reaction.

"The second is vastly more important. You see, today marks a sad milestone in my career as a leader of our kind... Let me explain. In this folder, which I ask that you open only when you are far away from here, is a photo and information on a woman I wish for you to kill. Normally, I wouldn't bat an eyelash, but your target... Is a mutant." He let it sink in for a moment.

"This mutant is very dangerous, and has seemingly taken a liking to harming other mutants. I cannot stand for this... She has... damaged people close to me as well. Remember, Ty... I ask this of you only because, as my first, and most trusted associate, I am confident in both your ability... and your drive. You have become so much stronger in the time since we met... Show me now, what strength you have gained. My newest child, Jennifer, will be accompanying you on this task. She will report to me if you find yourself in need of help." He motioned to a small cockroach that was already making it's way up Ty's arm.

"Hmm... On second thought, I don't wish for you to identify this dish... I've become quite peckish since this talk began. You may go."

He added before the ginger reached the door.

"Oh, and Mister Fisher... Don't fail me. Good day."

Sitting in front of a desk, being briefed by a giant bug. While others would be grossed out or even terrified at this situation, it was all just another day's work for someone like Ty. Even down to the mysterious dish under tinfoil number one. Nodding, he tucked the folder into his jacket and gave a nod as Roach continued speaking.

He could already feel the rush of adrenaline as his heart began to race with every little detail that was being explained about his newest mission. An enemy of Roach's was an enemy of the Order, and an enemy of either of those was an enemy of his.

"Got it. Dangerous mutant needs to be taken care of." He gave a small smile as Roach commended him on how much he'd grown. The cockroach crawled up his arm, and he didn't bat an eyelash. By now he was used to bugs in his company.

"Won't let ya down, Boss," Ty replied, the title of Boss being used as an odd symbol of an equally odd affection, and then walked out. Sure, Ty didn't always agree with Roach, and often questioned his methods, but Roach had taken him in when he had no one else. In an odd sort of way, the mutant was almost like a father-figure to the lad.

Returning to his room, he dug around, finally finding the gun he'd managed to hang onto from his adventure with Simon and Rupert. Three Bullets. Hopefully that was enough. Pocketing that, he left Sanctuary and made his way to an old, abandoned building. One of his old hideouts, and one he hadn't used in ages.

Climbing through the broken window, he propped against the wall and opened the folder. His blood ran cold when he saw who it was. But he had to. Right? Yeah. It was what was...best. I think...

Leaving the building, he scaled up the fire escape to continue travel by rooftop, wondering how this would play out. Every scenario that ran through his mind seemed to be a losing one.

Damn, I really should have stuck around to see what was in that dish...

Tses was socially exhausted with people, especially the goodie-two-shoes at the mansion. After her run in with Sylar, she stayed there for a short while to 'recuperate'. But that mostly meant getting into things, eating their food, and generally being a nuisance. She even made several people cry, although she wasn't entirely sure how intentional all of that was. When she was in a bad mood it was easy to get irritated and snap at people. At least no one got injured... She behaved herself that much.

But now she was back on the streets, at least for the time being. No one had kicked her out, exactly, but no one was exactly pleased with her presence there. Not that it mattered to her. She was perfectly fine to leave the nice warm bed and go out into the street like she normally survived. She couldn't get comfortable staying indoors anyway. She was a street kid, and one way or the other she always returned to being one.

It was fairly cold, December. Her birthday couldn't be that far around the corner. There were occasional flurries of snow, but nothing serious yet. As she walked, she meandered her way to one of her favorite fire escapes, close to the apartment that used to be hers. This building was under construction, so not many people hung out around here, but it gave a nice view of the city. She intended to bombard the occasional bystander with explosives, or throw some of the light powdered snow that lingered on them. But in the end she just sat perched on the railing, watching the sun go down.

Sometimes, she could only be so bratty before she remembered to be sad.

It didn't take long for Ty to find his target, perched on a fire escape not far from his own. This...wasn't the best scenario though, for Ty had no time to come up with a way around this, a loophole out, or an excuse to safely get out of it. Nope. There she was. Pretty as ever. The way her hair hung over her head as she looked...sad. Even though he was looking at her from the side, and she didn't seem to see him.

Clenching his eyes shut, he pulled the pistol out of his jacket, and put the three bullets in the chamber. A tear came to his eyes as he thought about her, lining the sights up with her figure as best he could. Her slim, scarred, yet athletic and attractive figure. So catlike and agile. Focus, Ty...you can do this...it's only the love of your life. With all you put her through, you'd probably be doing her a favor...

He bit his lip, forgetting about the bug he had up his sleeve. His breath was shaky, and his throat was tight. His gloved hands were clammy as sweat poured from his brow. Biting his lip harder, he felt a trickle of blood start to run lightly from it. Pursing his lips together, he pulled the trigger. The shot for more than a million reasons made his ears ring.

Tses felt a thousand thoughts drifting through her head as she stared out from the fire escape. She wished she had her CD player... at least music was distracting enough. She didn't have to think about the past, and about how messed up her life was feeling. She could put on a rock song and try to forget about things for a bit. She considered different songs she wanted to listen to, trying to stray away from the sad ones, when she heard a noise. Her posture shifted ever so slightly as the gunfire went off, and an explosion of pain hit her shoulder.

What...the....hell...

The force knocked her from her perch and instinct kicked in as she started falling. Her left hand grabbed the railing, she swung sideways and slammed into the metal, arm twisting painfully, then her fingers lost their grip and she fell. Like a cat, her legs hit first. Unlike a cat, her ankle gave way, pitching her sideways with a painful snap sending a second wave of pain through her as she crashed into the gravel. Rocks tore into her skin, her head slammed painfully against the ground, and the cursing and spitting came out breathless, more sobs than snarls. Rolling onto her stomach, she twisted her head, helplessly trying to see her shoulder....

Blood ran down her arm, and her mind swam with the pain driving through her head.... Looking up in rage where the shot had come from, she caught sight of the red-haired figure and her face changed in an instant. Emotions of betrayal and emotional anguish replaced the physical pain as she stared.

Why....

It...it couldn't....he couldn't...WHY?!

Ty's gun clambered to the steel grating of the fire escape as he watched her fall. The pain on her face. The look of sheer hurt and betrayal. The only thing she'd ever done wrong to him was love him without knowing how to properly show it. And he shot her. And for what? Tears stung his eyes as thoughts raced through his mind.

His vision became red for a brief second, but he didn't know that was because his eyes were glowing crimson, recording his thoughts onto the glove of his clenched right fist.

The day the met on the fire escape after he was chased by a dog. The countless moments they spent together. Their first kiss. Every kiss after. The day they reunited. Valentine's day. The breakup and every meeting after. The gun clambering to the ground as he shot her. The next moments were written in black and white, though Ty had no idea what was going on at this point, he was still in shock from what he'd stupidly done. She was walking down the street. Eyes meeting, Ty runs to Tses with open arms and kisses her, and she accepts. Revisiting the zoo. Watching fireworks on New Year's. Every wrong made right again...

Several moments later, it had passed. Ty groggily made his way down the fire escape, sick to his stomach. Before reaching her fallen body, he had to throw up in the nearest trash can. Finally making it to her, he dropped to his knees, a crying, pitiful mess. "God...I...what have I done...? What kind of monster am I...All she ever did was love me in a way she didn't know how to show...and I killed her...I should be the one lying there...not you...I'm sorry..."

Tses had been shot before, so the pain wasn't anything new. In fact, she got shot at least two times just since she met Ty Fisher, but she never pegged him on being the one to add the third shot to her medical history. Last time, the injured shoulder hadn't been so bad, but the cuts from the glass she fell into had stung. Now, with the bullet likely shattering the bone rather than skimming the surface, and the pain from her leg meant she didn't imagine she could just limp away from this.

As she heard the sobbing next to her anger and rage filtered through the pain. "I'm not dead yet...you asshole..." She snarled, lifting her head just long enough to glare at him. Her gaze was poisonous, and was shaking with pain and anger that masked the betrayal. "You ....touch me....ever again....I swear..." She coughed violently, pain nearly knocking her back as she rolled away from him, flinching as her back hit the dirt. She pushed herself into a sitting position, trying to scoot away. Her head was spinning, her efforts weak and staggered.

She was alive! But Ty was still sick to his stomach. There was nothing he could say or do. She was right. He'd tried to kill the one person he'd ever loved. The one person who ever loved him back.

"You're right..." he murmured darkly. "I don't know why I did it. I can't tell you because I honestly don't know. I've been so lost...confused..." Leaning back, he beat his head against the brick wall before sitting down and burying his face in his hands and crying some more. "I'm just an asshole...an asshole who didn't deserve you...doesn't deserve to live..."

She could hear him talking, but couldn't make out what he was saying. The thought was just repeating in her head over and over. Just stay back....just stay away... The pain flooded through her, blood continued to run down her shoulder as her head sank against the wall. The rage and tears sent lights flickering across her arms, powers rising to defend her. But this time...

The light didn't stop at her arms....

The blood on her skin turned translucent, her arms taking a green hue then flickering into light. It crawled up one arm, moved across her body, and the glow in her vision was the only clue of what was happening. Rage vanished, and a muffled scream of surprise echoes in the alley.

What...the...

"What did you do!" She hissed, trying to stand, falling back to her knees, but she couldn't quite feel the ground...

Ty glanced at her, though he could barely bring himself to do it. Wait...she was...what the hell? She was light?!? That was new...

"I don't know! I...you're ****ing green!" he exclaimed, his being down on himself replaced with that of shock and awe. He had to admit, whatever this was, it was kind of cool. But all that aside, she didn't want anything to do with him anymore. And with good reason. But he didn't want to leave her. He hadn't wanted to shoot her either...but he thought he had to.

He didn't know what to think or do anymore. Standing to his feet, he figured the best thing he could do now was just disappear. So, the lad stuffed his hands in his pockets and started on his way.

Tses was glowing....she was glowing, and bleeding, and half-way towards passing out. And Ty... was starting to walk away. She stumbled to her feet, barely managing to stand, and only because the light form meant no real weight was on her injured ankle at the moment. The snarl that came from her mouth was very audible though.

"So that's it? You just show up, you frickin' shoot me, and you just....you're going to...walk away or something?" The light flickered, pain shooting through her leg as it went solid for a moment. She stumbled forward, hand reaching out to catch herself.

The light faded, her legs buckled, and her grip caught his arm. The movement yanked his arm free, her hand hitting his.

What resulted was a flood of memories that nearly buried her already stunned mind.

The dog, the fire escape, meeting...valentines day, the gun, having to shoot her. Conflicted emotions... The color vanished, new images took over in black and white... The images hurt in a sad, happy way. Things that never happened, but should have. Memories that were damaged, and an almost wishful recreation... Her death grip on his hand released as the memory vanished and she groaned, holding a hand to her head and slumping onto her knees.... her bloodied and damaged shoulder protested the movement, but her head was overwhelmed with other....thoughts.

"Holy....crap...what did you...do..." She repeated dizzily.

"I don't know! I don't know what I need to do, I don't even know why the hell I even shot you...I just..." his voice trailed off as she grabbed his hand, and once again, he found himself staying with her. He felt he had to.

"Do? What do you mean? I ruined us...you...everything. That's what I did," he said sadly, not realizing a new scope of his powers had unlocked. "What the **** have I become, Tses?" he asked, all out of tears by now.

He was babbling, and that was irritating. Tses took a moment to glare at him then a fit of coughing took over, a slight blood hitting the back of the arm she coughed into. She didn't even want to see her back. She wasn't sure if she was entirely dizzy from just blood loss right now though... Everything hurt.

"Stop...talking...You...memories...how did you..." She shut her eyes and the headache pounded in her mind. As if getting shot wasn't enough. "These...they aren't my memories." She said slowly, trying to process it. It didn't help she felt like she was going to pass out... she probably was going to pass out... The ground seemed like it was moving a lot, but maybe that was just her vision.

"Memories? I...you saw my memories?" he blinked, somewhat intrigued. "What exactly did you see? Maybe I can help make heads or tails of it. Even if I'm good for nothing else." He shook his head, trying to figure everything out.

"Then soon we need to get you taken care of. Though I think it's a bad idea to go to Sanctuary right now," he muttered softly.

>>What did you see...

Tses wasn't sure she wanted to answer at that point in time. The images were too confusing, too painful. She bit her lip, pain shooting through her shoulder. Right now, everything seemed to be painful though. "Us...I saw...us... Memories of meeting, Valentines...and...not memories..." She looked at the ground, vision blurring. She heard his last remark, and shook her head.

"What's the point." She whispered. "If you're supposed to kill me, why not do it? What good am I doing to anyone alive? At least...that way would...help you, wouldn't it." She squinted at him, trying to read his expressions. It was dumb, but she didn't feel like she did much good to anyone one way or the other. Maybe she was mad he did this. Maybe she wasn't. Lately it felt like the only person she was mad with was herself.

I'm swimming in the smoke of bridges I have burned. So don't apologize, I'm loosing what I don't deserve.