Her heart had jumped when he had cursed at her, but the words that had followed had caused her to relax a bit, and loosen her tightened fists.

The fact he took her words to heart meant more to Lenna than she would ever be able to say. For a moment, she had worried she had said too much and ruined things. But he had listened, and not grown angry. Some men do, when you call them out on things. If you can call them men.

He had apologized, and said he would try to do better.

”Yes,” she had said. ”I like when you talk.” She cracked no jokes about how the content of that talk mattered little. How it could be nothing, or nonsense, or even just telling her she was cute. She liked his voice. She disliked silence. Communication was key. But her appetite for jokes had disappeared. ”Thank you,” She said, instead.

He looked at the picture, and fell silent. But this was an okay silence. The silence of deep thinking.

She had gotten the man to talk. Now, here was the hard part. Answering. But Lenna had always been the type of girl to tear away the bandage when the time had come. No wasting time worrying it would hurt. It would hurt. And then, it would get better.

He launched his questions, as they came to him. One after the other. What was it like when she was younger? What did she do? Did she remember how she had left and how she had arrived? And did she believe there was a chance... he could help her find her people, if she wanted.

She awaited his pause for breath with great interest. Then, squeezing her knees, Lenna tried to answer as best she could. As she contemplated answers, she worried her lower lip.

The first question had been about her childhood. Her whole life story? She glanced at him, worried her lip. Spoke.

”My memories from when I was younger are weak. Blurred. Family stuff... my father. My mother... can not remember their faces. A garden. Driving past snowy trees. Hot cocoa. Warm fire. Cold snow. Later, a rocky shore line. A beach. Walking by the sea. A lighthouse... I do not remember very clearly until the cruise. Maybe my memory is just bad. Maybe I made myself forget. That was my old life. My true life began after that cruise...”

She held up a forestalling hand as she trained off, brow furrowed. Worried her lip. Went on.

”I was around five? We were on a cruise. I played. There were pirates. I am trying, Cowboy, but I remember little about all of that. It is all disjointed. Shots. Shouts. Explosions? A Burning Sunset. Boats. Eliana’s shape, against it. She was the girl from the photograph. Younger, obviously. But her. She said they came as soon as they could. She had rescued me. I was the only survivor? She said. My parents had not made it. She took me in... I had a new home.”

As she had spoke, her eyes had drifted down. Her face might have reflected the horror of her memories, or it might have been confused. Lost. Lenna had not given much thought to her face as she had spoken. With Sky, she had been cavalier with her telling of the story. But He had wanted more... had he not? Wait, had he? Had he... not?

Sudden insight told her that maybe she had misread his question. Maybe the entire situation. There is honesty, honestly, and then there is too much honestly.

Honestly, she had been so caught up in her own memories she had probably scared him half to death. Was he looking at her. She looked up at him. Yes. He was.

The rest of her answer came out hurried. ”So she brought me to Cortez in Colombia, and he adopted me. I went to a school full of girls. We studied and trained in useful skills! To answer the rest of your questions, we worked for Cortez. He sent us on missions. You saw how I left. I got deAged. For me, I was on a mission. My first solo mission. That had been in Colombia. I do not know how me wound up here, in America. What was the last question...?”

”Do I think that there is a a chance Eliana and Cortez are alive? Do I want to find them... no. And, no. I am free from that life, Cowboy.” She shook her head. ”I am glad I have a chance now to become someone different. I never even finished my first solo assassination mission and Eliana was always the one who got the shots.” She shrugged one shoulder. Then, realized that she had said one sentence too much.

Ty hadn't cursed at Lenna, per se, moreso at himself for forgetting. He noticed that she relaxed, and that made him feel better. He was new at this whole relationship thing but he was going to do whatever he could to make it work. And if all he had to do at this moment was ask questions and talk, then he could definitely do that. Besides, he liked talking to Lenna, a lot.

He listened carefully, soaking in all of the answers, thinking on each of them in silence as she told her story. That was...wow. "So you were trained to be an assassin?" he said, looking at her, trying to piece the words together. "But you never actually killed anyone. I mean, not this version of you," he said with a nod, leaning in and kissing her cheek. "Is there anything else you think I need to know?" He paused for a moment, unable to think of anymore questions.


"My past isn't that interesting, but...My mom died when I was little, and my Dad was...well he was an ass, older me killed him, according to my memories. I moved from Georgia to New York to live with my aunt, who...died. I then bounced around, and wound up being taken in by this guy named Lafayette, who taught me how to pick pockets and hotwire cars and stuff. Nothing in my visions indicates what happened to him," he said after a moment. "And really that's all there is to me."

After a moment, he squeezed her hand again. "We're free from both our former lives," he said after a moment. "This could be considered a fresh start. We can become whatever we want now, right?" he asked, looking at her with a questioning glance.

No screams had met her ears after she had told the biggest truth of her life. No accusations. No threats to go tell someone. As far as she could tell, there had been no mistrust in his eyes. He had simply listened, and processed.

As he spoke after her revelation, Lenna wondered why she had worried at all. In her experience, people could be mean. People could make hasty decisions. They could be paranoid. They could be monsters. They could be kind. They could... not care at all. The world had all sorts. It needed them.

She had not pulled any punches with him. And... his first response had been a clarifying question. Just to make sure he fully understood. Oh, and also a kiss. To show he was still her boyfriend, and not some stranger gathering ammunition for later.

Lenna nodded, and set the photograph on the coffee table in front of them. ”I was trained to be an assassin. And a soldier. I trained with around 99 other girls of various ages. Part of Cortez’s personal army. I do not know why he only wanted girls.” She did not blush or bat an eye at the thought. There were only so many reasons.

”I have never killed anyone. My first solo mission was supposed to have been a little over a week ago for me... but from my perspective, I appeared in the bar in the middle of the mission, while I was fighting several men.” She held up her fists, and faked a few jabs.”So I fought.”

What else did he need to know? ”That picture was taken before my first mission, with Eliana. We assassinated a rival drug cartel leader. Cortez desired power and influence. If he is dead, I am not— I do not— I did not hate him. But time and distance has gotten me thinking that what happened to me was not normal... and might be a bit sad. He did not train us to be normal people. I do not know a lot about living in the real world... I know a lot about organizing missions and where people are weakest. Anatomy, psychology... I know first aid. That sort of stuff. I know Krav Maga. But I really do not know much about history... or the world we live in. How things work. The science of things. Unless they bang or boom.”

She sighed. ”I think he might have meant to isolate us... no modern media. Controlling who and what we knew.”

There. That was all she could think of at that moment. Except—

”I really like you... I did not want to start this out by lying to you... or hiding who I am. I feel like that would have been pretty sh****y. Making you think I am just some cutesy normal girl. I felt like you needed to know... why I am like I am.” She blushed. Because she was weird. She did not think like other girls... as far as she knew. Further research would be required, to simply fit in.

”If I think of anything else, I will bring it up.” She finished lamely.

There. She had told him all the things that she had worried would be difficult to share. They had been. But it had been far easier than she had feared. Then, it was his turn to tell her a tale.

Lenna listened with rapt attention. He said he was not interesting... but to her, he was very interesting. He, also, lacked a mother. He, too, had been a murderer. To someone else, that admission might have caused concern. But to Lenna, it gave her solid ground to stand on. He was a murderer. She had worked with killers before. She could understand many of the things that might have motivated such an act... and he had not lied about it to make himself look good. She could trust a murderer. Except he WAS NOT THAT.

Dios mio, this was confusing. She momentarily felt bad for thinking the thought. If she was not, he was not. Any other thing would make her a hypocrite. He had been speaking of memories of another self... so complicated. His secondhand past versus her firsthand past and secondhand past, present, and future. And they could change their future.

He mirrored her sentiments, exactly. She squeezed back.

”Free. Yes.” She nodded the affirmative. Smiled. Then, quirked an eyebrow at him. ”That was cathartic, but... do you always do this on the second date with a cute girl? I got to say, Cowboy. You sure know how to show a girl a good time! I have a headache now. Pills, please!” She held out one hand.

"I'd rather not think about the why," Ty had answered darkly, his eyes never leaving hers. He wasn't used to this level of talking, but he did suppose that it was better than just using his powers to learn things. His powers could only reveal so much, for one. And for two...talking was much more personal, and in the case of him and Lenna, personal was good.

"Even if you did, I wouldn't hold it against you. I mean...I'm just trying to overcome what I might turn into. You've got that, whatever another version of you got up to, plus what you were taught and trained to do," he said, never once letting go of her hand. "I really like you, too. I know I'm not really great at the talking thing. I guess I depend on my powers too much but...talking can be better sometimes. I kinda like that you're not some cutesy normal girl. Sure, you're cute but you're different. Hell, I'm not normal, myself. And I'll let you know if I find anything out." he nodded, smiling as he looked at her.

Then, he handed her the headache pills as instructed, but the words made him blush more than a little bit, but that was the normal for him when he was with her. "I wouldn't know...you're the first first date I've had, and therefore the only second date." he gave a light shrug as he lifted the hand that was holding hers, and brought her hand gently to his lips, kissing it before setting it back on his lap.

He... was a pretty good boyfriend. So far. As far as she knew. She could get confirmation from someone. But the whole ‘accepting her’ thing, and understanding they were both dealing with things... helped?

He would not hold it against her if she had done things in her past line of work. She had been raised to do it, after all. And the multiple instances of Lenna made the whole thing complex.

They talked of other things. She told him about the picture... and herself. And that she liked him. They may have already covered that, but it bears repeating after major revelations and confusion get introduced to a conversation.

Like her: ‘Oh, I was an assassin.’

Him: ‘My other self killed his father.’

Her: ‘That’s okay. I still like you. What do you wish to do about lunch?’

Stuff like that.

She did not think those thoughts consciously, but they ran below the surface of her mind. Below the revelations and complex crap. Because she could poke fun at her self. And it was good he could, too. Because he liked her. And realized he was not perfect, either. And liked her as she was.

Good. She nodded. Smiled at him. They were free. Now, she could crack jokes. Relieve tension.

She smirked at the hand-kissing, and shuddered a little bit. It was not something she was used to at all. Her hands were not soft. They were calloused, from hard work and training.

”We will just have to make sure date three is easy. Maybe a movie and dinner. I can cook tacos.” she said lightly.

She could more than just tacos. But tacos were easy. They were going for easy. And it had been the first thing to come to her mind.

Of course, they were still on date two. Not yet date three. So they would have to continue along the path she herself had set, with all the complicated revelations and reveals... unless they just did not.

She briefly took a couple aspirin. Then, spoke again.

”I would ask if you got any thing important from the remote control, but I think a break is in order. Maybe some lunch... Unless what you saw was very important? What, did you find out I work for the government men or something?” She teased. Then realized, maybe it was less ridiculous than it had first sounded. It might make a lot of things make sense.

Ty felt that they were doing pretty well as a young couple so far, especially one that had no idea what they were doing. Especially true, given that the things they'd been through were not exactly things that normal couples did, as far as he knew.

"Yeah, date three should just be relaxing. No cops, no conspiracies...just...us. Tacos sound nice." he said with a nod, his thumb stroking the back of her hand gently. Her hands weren't soft and dainty, but then again neither was she. Honestly, he liked the way she was; she was unique, special. And she was his girlfriend.

"Oh, I didn't get much of anything. Just useless day to day stuff; nothing big. I think this wasn't really where your future self did a lot, honestly. I'd suggest the bedroom but...break. And who knows what I'd see in there..." He leaned his head against her shoulder again, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

Tacos sounded nice, yes. And the ‘us’ part.

Lenna nodded.

He was still stroking her hand when he answered her question, about the remote. And about taking a break.

In her mind, she knew logically that he had brought up bedroom and break in two very different lines of thought, rather than in conjunction. The bedroom was where she spent more time. She had noted that it had greater levels of personality, herself. But when he stroked her hand and said ‘bedroom’, then teased her about the things he might see within the room? Then, hit close, with the head on shoulder thing? Logic really was not in it for her interpretation of the way that conversation had headed.

She snorted, and bumped her shoulder into his.

”Goof ball. I know you did not mean to, but you phrased that very poorly. But, yes.” Lenna grinned. ”Lunch break now, bedroom later.” She threw a blush in alongside the grin, because she could not stop it.

”For business.” She added quietly.

—

The kitchen, it held many canned goods. Soups, chili, beans. There was rice and there was pasta. The fridge held some things of note. A lot was expired, however. But the freezer held several fried heathen foods and healthy TV dinners to create a sort of balance. The pantry was a confusing mess of chips and things.

Strange. She’d thought the kitchen was an empty face before, but now she was noticing all sorts of personality. Maybe her perspective had changed.

"Oh....right..." he said with a blush of his own. "I'm sure you know what I meant, though," he added, then smirked. "Business. Yeah. Mostly~" Despite feeling like his face was going to explode from the heat, he had to keep teasing. It was fun.

He followed her to the kitchen, slipping his gloves back on. He didn't know how to cook, but if nothing else he could keep her company, right? And they'd figure something out; they usually did. As she looked, he walked up and slipped an arm around her waist, looking at the pantry full of...food? Technically he guessed it was food.

"See anything good?"

Mostly.

Lenna ‘mhmmmd’, and rose from the couch.

—

As she stood, eying the pantry, he snuck up behind her and held her. Lenna glanced over her shoulder at him.

”Other me does not like to cook much. Lot of takeout boxes in trash cans. Chips and things that do not require much cooking. Sad. I like to cook. I guess I stopped.”

There were packaged cookies, barbecue potatoes chips, crackers, and other things that would last a while. What were... pop pastries? And cereal, much much cereal. Lucky Clovers and Chocolate Os and Peanut Butter toast crunch. And some thing that looked fruity. All of it was high sugar fuel for a busy life. One where the person came home exhausted, and wishing to give no ffffks.

”Dry cereal and potato chips. Unless you want chili or soup. Maybe the fridge has eggs?” It had been a week or so since last she had checked.

There was soda, at least. And ice cream in the freezer. With the TV dinners.

”If there were fresher things, I would make you some thing nice. Oh well.” She leaned forward and grabbed the peanut butter toast cereal. Correction, it was chocolate peanut butter toast cereal. Dios mio. She passed him the box.