((OOC: this post takes place early December/ before Christmas))

Jaxon glared at the phone in her hand, reduced to anger at inanimate objects. Poor phone hadn’t done anything wrong; it just happened to represent so much and be in the wrong hands at the wrong time.

With an exasperated sound she threw the phone, but Jax had never been good at destroying things and the phone ended up thumping heavily on the bed of the hotel suite she was currently living out of. She hated that phone. Her phone had been taken away, her life had been rearranged, her choices had been chosen for her… After spending time in the freedom of another life, no one to answer to, no expectations, no standards of behavior… she chafed under the new leash her parents had her on.

Sent to Romania, plucked from her life and delivered to a foreign country on a business trip for her family… as if she didn’t know the real reason why. Her parents were punishing her for her strange and her lack of contact. They wouldn’t even listen to her when she tried to explain that it wasn’t safe for her in Romania.

Now angry that she had nothing else to take it out on, she stomped around for a while, in a rare tantrum. Fighting with her parents always upset her. When it wasn’t enough she yanked on her sweater and heavy coat, plugging her headphones in and setting off to take a walk.

After spending nearly two months in dark, damp, cold archives, government basements… wading through stacks and file drawers, filling out paper work and jumping through bureaucratic red tape… Jaxon was tired. She wanted to go home to New York, to see her friends, to relax. She didn’t want to worry about being discovered as a mutant and never allowed to leave.

How can my parents not let me come home for Christmas?!

Jaxon stomped along, her boots hitting the snowy street with dull thudding sounds. Flurries were swirling and she was bundled up to ward off the cold but it still seeped in along the edges of her clothing, where her jacket sleeves met her gloves, or where her pants met her boots. But she didn’t feel it yet, she was too caught up in her head. She also didn’t know that her security detail had lost her, unprepared for her sudden departure from her room, by the time they tried to follow they had lost her and were currently trying to find her by car.

With her headphones on, Jax should have know better than that, she didn’t hear any of the people or traffic on the street. She didn’t notice the rattling van that was seeming to follow her, or the fact that she had walked farther from her hotel than she had planned and that there were fewer people on the street.

Thinking about the past weeks, spent in tedious work and neck deep in more winter than she was used to, Jax was able to slow to a more regular speed. Winters in Romania weren’t like winters in New York, that was for sure. Jax usually liked winter, but this was too cold and too wet.

Her slower pace allowed a man to get out of the van following her and pace her on foot.

It was strange.

Strange and curious, wading through the snow. Snow. It had finally dawned on the ever-dazed Shinbo, this was Winter in a foreign land. Foreign snow, strange. And there was that word again, strange. It was a good day for it, strange, though leafing through a thesaurus wasn't uncalled for in the snow. The pure and white... strange. Shin had gotten used to New York powder, which had the mind-boggling power to dirty itself fast. In the gutters, on the streets. Even in Central Park, where foot traffic crushed down patterns, and wore paths in the flurrious patches. Snow in New York was rarely this white.

Shin wondered if it had to do more with social controversies, rather than climate... He made the connection that snow in New York had a large population of -mutants-, and humans to dirty it down. Shin had been making connections lately. See, here in Romania, most mutant foot traffic would be reduced. See the connection? The number of shoes venturing outside their homes would be greatly reduced. Shoemakers would mourn the loss of revenue brought in from expired footwear. A loss of winter wear, where each mutant kept indoors during the act of Registration. Heads were low, people, but soles! The souls of soles were even lower, as solitary shoes were shooed indoor, and shoemakers, the sole proprieter and profiteer from post-winter footwear sales, was singled out. The Romanian Mutant Registration act hurt man! Woman!! And child, but moe impotently (and importantly, insofar as shoemakers were concerned), IT HURT THE SALE OF SECOND FEET!!!

Strange... Shin teetered from the illogical thought, eyes straying exactly two meters to the right of the gridlike line of the sidewalk. How he knew 'exactly two meters', Shin didn't know, but he was glad for the momentary sense of order in the convoluted disarray of his mind, that his thoughts, precious as they were, were operating on Metric. It's the little things in life that make you glad as your gaze strays from sidewalk to passing vehicle and you noggin leaps through a hoop to connect a mathematic equation with the digits on the license plate. It's the little things, people. The little things.

Like a power growth, or the crunch of snow underfoot, or the realization you're not the only one out and about dirtying vanilla-pure snow with your footwear.

Strange, though... That other person up exactly 11 feet ahead (disorder in Romania, meep) looked suspiciously familiar... Like Kasumi, but no. Kasumi was padding around back at the hotel, and he hadn't told her he was disobeying direct orders to get out and about the streets of Romania, on a quest for all time for air. And there was also the matter that Kasumi's hair was red, and Suuuumi-chaaaan most certainly had more cute-as-a-button spots... so why was he making the mental connection between his girlfriend and the dark-haired girl exactly 8 (no, with his most recent lope, 7) feet ahead of him? And why did he feel he'd been taller, with a deeper voice and more upper-body strength when last they'd met?

Connections (He'd been taller...) can bring about a whole new vantage point to life. As Shin drew near enough to reach out a hand to her shoulder, the word 'shoulder' resounded through his mind. That's when the mental grid faded, and Shin's mind drew in sharply for the conclusion.

A voice broke the silence between two passing not-quite-strangers in the snow. It was Shin's. ... Though, whether it got around the music streaming from the earbuds was up to God in his many modes to decide.

"Jaxon?" Shin's tone was uncertain. The last time they'd really talked, his mind had been preoccupied with the fight. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been snuggling with the cute frog-girl in her body. Shin hoped that would be alright. Extreme circumstances called for extreme courses of action, like motorcycle-stealing and snuggling, after all. Shin put an Asian, and-this-time-not-massive-strong-threatening-and-red, hand on her shoulder, and repeated her name to get her attention. "Jaxon, is that you?" Because, if it was, he had, and she had, some severe explaining to do. Like why they were both in Romania, and why he'd accidentally asked the question in far-too-fluent Romanian, rather than both their native tongues.

Jaxon paused to kick a small hill of snow that somehow managed to build itself in the middle of the sidewalk. Someone spoke, near enough and loud enough to penetrate her thoughts and the barricade of music, and a hand landed on her shoulder. Surprised and slightly off balance, she turned and slipped on a patch of ice, nearly landing on her butt.

Graceful Jax, real graceful…

Catching her footing and reaching up to pull the buds out of her ears, she was glaring when she looked at the person. Expecting to see one of the ape-like guards, she was surprised to see a somewhat familiar Japanese man. It took a moment before her mind connected the face with the name. Shin…. Something. If she even knew a last name it wasn’t coming to her now.

The last time she had seen him was… in the Thunder Dome? Had it been that long? What was he doing in Romania? Jax didn't really care though, she was just glad to see a friendly face.

The surprise stayed in her expression, but the glare changed to a smile of recognition when she spoke. “Shin?” Her voice was questioning, making sure it was him despite her near certainty that it was. “Hey! What are you doing here?” Thanks to the music, Jax had missed the fact that he had spoken Romanian, assuming that the music had just garbled his words, and responded in English.

The man that had been keeping pace with Jaxon, he hesitated when Shin appeared and looked back at the van briefly. Then he casually walked past the two talking and turned into a small nook in the building, stopping to light a cigarette and watching the two, acting as if he lived there are was taking a break before going in. The van pulled over, parked, and the door facing the sidewalk slid open a fraction.

"Err...." The sound of uncertainty escaped his lips at Jaxon's near fall... her near fall that he'd caused by surprising her. Strange how he could be as clumsy in his own body as he was in Big Red's. To err was human, though. Right? Shin's mouth curved downwards in a smile... yes, no. Still a smile, less upwards-curved in a frown. It hobbled between the two as she glared at him. Glaring was bad, right? Especially when one's face suddenly took on the odd features of a grid. Shin put a hand on his forehead, and took a staggered breath. He needed to sit down...

"You okay?" The words escaped him. He had to check. She hadn't fallen. Still standing, as it were. The frown vanished. She seemed fine. A friendly smile replaced the look of worry. Friendly, if hopeful, the glare would vanish from her face. It was a long shot. They really hadn't had much time to get to know each other, what with Bacchus's fist... and that one guy's face. Unpleasant meeting circumstances existed there, to be sure. Did she remember him? He hardly remembered her... just a name... and a face... and a face he'd spent more time with than the brain behind it.

But it seemed she did, so he didn't have to worry about this all being weird.

>> “Shin? Hey! What are you doing here?”

"Just walking," he replied distractedly, glancing towards the general direction of the man and the van, though not in suspicion. No. More to make the shifty lines stop. Ever since that morning, he'd had the worst headache. Shin's eyes shifted back towards Jaxon. "But you... what are you doing in Romania? The last I saw your face, you were at Full Circ--" 'Ull'. He cut himself off. Awkward. How did one tell another they helped take care of their body? Shin took a deep breath, and bowed his head. He'd let the words come to him naturally. One fraction of a fraction of a second of waiting, two fractions of a fraction of a second waiting, to hell with this, he'd force it. "You didn't, uh... don't remember... spending a lot of time in the body of one redhaired spotted frog girl some time earlier this year... do you?" Did you? Do you?

Smooth, Shard-master Shin. Real smooth.

For a moment Jaxon thought he looked a little sick, but then decided it must have been worry after he asked after her. “Oh, yes I’m fine.” It had just been a case of her feet getting ahead of the rest of her.

His response to her question about his presence made her raise her eyebrows in humor. “You came to Romania to take a walk?” She smiled, her tone indicating that she knew that wasn’t the case and was only joking... he just seemed a bit distracted and she couldn’t help it.

“Me, oh family business. We’re setting up some…” Her voice slowed to a stop, her face becoming confused before a wide eyed blank expression settled on her face at the rest of his words. “What?”

Taking a step closer she lowered her voice, glancing around quickly but not very carefully. “How do you know about that? I didn’t tell anyone!” Pulling her coat closer around herself, it took her a moment to pull back her shock. “Why? What happened?”

Jaxon had kept it all secret, telling no one but the journal she originally started to keep track of her dreams. She had tried to assimilate… to be someone else. Had thought she had convinced anyone who might have noticed. How could he know?

"Because, while you were in Kasumi's body... she was in yours." Shin cleared his throat with a dignified cough. His cheeks were 'Giant red'. "And I was in Abyss's. Let me tell you how great an experience that wasn't." He shifted where he stood, instinctively glancing over his shoulder to make sure nobody was approximately 11 feet away from them, listening. When he turned back, the blush had vanished. Now, his cheeks were cold again.

"As for the 'why' and 'what'... well, that's kinda self explanatory. Kinda," He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "While you were taking good care of Kasumi's body, I was taking care of her... and you. Tell me... you did take good care of her body, didn't you?" A hint of worry trembled behind his voice. "Because Abyss wasn't so generous with mine."

Jaxon blinked. It was good to know that her guess had been right, that she and Kasumi had switched bodies, glad that it hadn’t been some other very random combination. She watched Shin bush and her eyes widened in surprise before she wondered about it. Why is he blushing? What could have happened?

“Umm.. Thank you. I think I took care of it, nothing crazy, and I don’t think I exposed her… you know, secret. What happened with you guys?” Jax had tried to be very careful about covering Kasumi’s obvious mutation, the spots and such, despite it being uncomfortably hot to wear a sweater in summer. She hadn’t jumped off any cliffs or anything either. The idea that someone had been looking out for her on the other end was reassuring.

“So you know Kasumi? Can I, I don’t know, meet her sometime? When we get back to New York? After spending so much time in her shoes…” Meeting the person whose skin she had lived in for a while was interesting, and she wanted to meet her for real. Not her face in the mirror. Jax didn’t know Kasumi was here in Romania or she would have suggested that.

“You switched with Abyss? He is one of the… one of Venus’s brothers?” Jaxon hadn’t met him, had only met Venus and one other brother- Pluto maybe- she hadn’t been introduced properly. “He got you in trouble? You look alright…” He didn’t look hurt or anything, so it must not have been too serious, hopefully.

>>“Umm.. Thank you. I think I took care of it, nothing crazy, and I don’t think I exposed her… you know, secret. What happened with you guys?”

It was good Jaxon had tried to be discrete about it... not that there was much to be discrete about. Kasumi was already out of the closet, so far as mutations went. It was very hard to hide cute spots.

He didn't think they'd done anything to expose Jaxon on their end, either. "Kasumi and I kept a pretty low profile. I kept her off the streets, best I could..."

>>“So you know Kasumi? Can I, I don’t know, meet her sometime? When we get back to New York? After spending so much time in her shoes…”

"I do. She's my... girlfriend." Hence the blushing. "Had to protect her. Hope you understand... she's actually here in Romania," he glanced over his shoulder, as if somehow expecting her to be there. She wasn't, of course. Just the bank of snow exactly 7 feet away. "Though, we're trying to keep a low profile, what with... well, you know." Mutant Registration. It was strange Jaxon would be here when that was in the news. He supposed her family didn't know about her mutation. That'd have to be hard.

>>“You switched with Abyss? He is one of the… one of Venus’s brothers? He got you in trouble? You look alright…”

"Dunno about 'Venus brothers'. But yeah... when I was away from Kasumi, it was a bit of a problem... car crashes and being shot at. A day in the life of Abyss..." Shin shook his head. It had been fine, really. A learning experience that raised him 'morality expansion'. Though, some bits of it, he couldn't remember. "And when I got back, I found out I had a new tattoo... one I'm not showing anyone... so, anyways..." Again, how to put it. "Did you know..." Did you know? "That Abyss is strong enough to lift entire motorcycles, and carry them around with one on each shoulder?"

Girlfriend? Ooohhhh…. “Oh! And she’s here?... Keeping a low profile? Oh, right.” The turmoil in Romania wasn’t exactly news to Jaxon, but she hadn’t experienced it first hand yet, and she hoped to keep it that way, so she could understand staying under the radar. She shook her head slowly at the whole thing.

Jax looked around, she had wandered farther from her hotel than planned so she nodded towards the block ahead, and took a few steps in that direction while talking to him. “We can keep it low key… Should be able to catch a cab a street up from here if you want to head back to your hotel.”

Her eyebrows rose dramatically when she heard his story. A tattoo? Glad I didn’t switch with anyone like that! “Car crashes and things? Wow. And yeah, I mean, Venus can do things like that and since they are all identical I think, I would have guessed he could.” Wait… Motorcycles?

“Shin… Did something happen to my motorcycle?”

At the same time, as the two of them moved down the street a bit, the man that had been casually smoking now threw his cigarette to the side and stood a little straighter, watching them out of the corner of his eye, waiting for them to get between him and the van.

>>“Oh! And she’s here?... Keeping a low profile? Oh, right.”

"Yeah." They were doing their part to help the people of Romania, one rescue at a time. Sometimes, it worked out. Sometimes, it didn't. Sometimes... parliament got bombed. Then, it was serious. Shin had tried to forget about that... he nodded at her next comment.

>>“We can keep it low key… Should be able to catch a cab a street up from here if you want to head back to your hotel.”

Then, raised her his story.

>>Car crashes and things? Wow. And yeah, I mean, Venus can do things like that and since they are all identical I think, I would have guessed he could.” She seemed at peace with that statement, though something caught her attention. Her next comment sounded worried.

>>“Shin… Did something happen to my motorcycle?”

"Yours? ... no. Which one was yours, again?" Hopefully, it hadn't been one of the two they'd stolen. He still couldn't get over the fact him and Kasumi had been thick as thieves. Somehow, he felt the body he'd been in was used to it... or maybe there'd been more thievery done that day that he couldn't remember. Either way. "No, no. My comment was less about motorcycles, more about 'just saying'. Like, 'Just saying Abyss is strong', and 'just saying he could lift something like a motorcycle'. Just saying he could lift something lighter, like, an, uh..." They kept up the walking. He kept talking. "Jaxon."

"Just saying, alright. . . . That okay?"

((OOC: Hey Shin, I’m moving us down the street a little and started the kidnapping, hope that is okay.))

“My bike is a red and black Ducati, and as long as it isn’t crashed or too badly messed up…” Jaxon sighed, and made a waving motion with both her hands indicating that it would be alright.

She really shouldn’t get so attached to her belongings, she could always just buy a new one… But she hated doing that, it seemed so wasteful. And she loved that motorcycle, had a lot of memories with it. A few scratches or dents and she could get that fixed right up. Jaxon would try not to be mad, but she might be a little miffed when she first saw any damage.

Shin was acting kind of suspicious about the ‘Abyss is strong’ thing, but Jax really didn’t know him well enough to know if this was just his regular behavior or not. “ Just saying he could lift something lighter, like, an, uh... Jaxon. Just saying, alright. . . . That okay?”

Jaxon raised her eyebrows but nodded. “Yes… That is okay.”

As they moved down the street towards a more populated area to catch a cab, they moved between the man and the van. The door slid open, distracting Jaxon enough that she turned her head. The man who had been waiting took that opportunity to jump forward, shoving Shin aside and wrapping an arm around her torso and pinning her arms in one move. His other hand lifted a chloroform soaked rag around her face and started dragging her struggling form towards the van.

Jaxon tried to kick out, but she couldn’t get a good angle and the sickly sweet aroma was making it hard to breathe, clouding her mind. Her limbs started to feel heavy and she could feel herself leaning on the man more than fighting him. She coughed against the rag, trying to pull her mouth back away from the rag, but the man’s grip was to tight and she sank deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. Her last thought was Damn it…

>>“My bike is a red and black Ducati, and as long as it isn’t crashed or too badly messed up…”

"Nope. Don't think I even saw that one." Not that it had vanished mysteriously into the night or anything, just that his eyes had focused elsewhere, to very pretty bikes, and Abyss's personal property. Those two cycles were a lot more important to him than some Ducati. Red wasn't even his color.

Red was Abyss's color. And Abyss was strong, yeah?

Shin was weak...

Inwardly, he slumped in defeat. Why couldn't he just come out and say it? It wasn't like it was anything humongous. Certainly not anything 'Abyss-huge'. Just hugging. Oh, but hugging was too important, Shin rationalized.

Bases, as outlined by Shin:

#1! Holding hands.

#2!! Hugging.

#3! ... The kiss.

It was number two on his list, people! Though, that wasn't hugging in the 'friend hugging friend' sense. That was hugging in the 'Shin hugging Kasumi' sense. Two different animals. TWO VERY DIFFERENT... maybe he was taking hugging too seriously? It wasn't as if he'd done anything lasting. A hug was a hug. He had to remember this...

Shin turned towards Jaxon, offering a weak smile. Just as he was ready to make the confession... a door slid open. And a hand.

A HAND. Shoved Shin aside.

And this was no ordinary hand, people, because that hand! That hand!! Went on to grab onto Jaxon.

Jaxon.

Jaxon!! The home of his girlfriend's mind for two weeks!! And not just a friendly or Shin-level hug. This man had a different plan. A very 'does this rag smell like chloroform to you, Jaxon?' plan!! Then, he started dragging.

Suffice it to say, Shin lost it. A strong Asian fist flew at the man as he set her into the van. A strong Asian fist pummeled, unloading punch after punch. A strong Asian fist... was caught. The driver behind Shin held back his hand... before he knew what was happening, that chloroform rag from earlier had made a reappearance. All Shin's training... all Shin's preparation in the Danger Room... had not prepared him for the sick scent of chloroform.

As the grid of the world slipped away, Shin's eyes fluttered upwards into a face. Possibly the last face he'd see. Mental slumping spelled out 'o r z' in his mind. The man's eyes... hard. The bed of the van, harder still. Against the back of his head. Shin felt himself being tossed into the vehicle. He slipped into unconsciousness easy as a monkey slipping on a banana peel.

One final word left his pale chapped lips. "Kasumi!"

The door slammed. The van drove away.

Silence.