It had been awhile since Nika took some time to herself. She was always busy either helping at the mansion or being sent on missions for the X-Men. It was almost a never ending cycle.

Today was a perfect day to get some much needed relaxation. The temperature was still warm and there was a soft breeze caressing the trees. The smell of flowers was refreshing. Finding a nice big tree to relax under Nika sat down and leaned back against the bark and let out a soft sigh.

Nathan was sitting on a park bench. He had been there for a while now. He had come to this place to remember Ali. There first date had brought them here. To the park, where he had first transformed in front of her. It had been a long time ago because he had undergone the transformation involuntarily. He had not the control that he possessed now.

Nathan was in a very vivid daydream. Suddenly the scene shifted from their date to a very dark cliff. Ali was clinging to the edge of it by one of her hands and she was about to fall. Nathan dove to reach her hand but she fell anyway. He immediately cried out "No!".

Nathan was immediately awoken from his dream as he yelled. He was sure others in the park could hear it. But it didn't matter to him. He thought about the dream. It was wrong somehow. Ali could have flown. But then, why did she fall? Because I didn't do enough to save her?

Nathan was so lost in his thoughts that if someone had walked up and addressed him that he wouldn't have noticed at first.

Nika's instincts jumped into action when she heard someone shout NO!. She looked around and saw a man on one of the benches. He had a troubled look on his face. With a soft sigh Nika made her way over to him to make sure he was ok.

So much for a peaceful day.

"Excuse me? Are you alright?"

Nathan was pondering what this dream meant. Was it merely his subconscious? Or something else entirely? Ali and Nathan had shared a connection from when they first met. Nathan always figured it had something to do with both of them being fire elementals but there was never anything concrete to base his theory on.

Nathan felt eyes upon him, so he turned his head to see who was there. Recognition slowly dawned on him when he saw her. After all, how many cat girls do you see in a lifetime? Nika looked as if she had hardly changed since he had left the Mansion. Nathan wasn't sure if Nika would recognize him. His shoulder length hair was different from when he was at the Mansion. And the few weeks of growth on his face wouldn't help any. He suppossed he looked like a bum off the street. Albeit, a very big and muscular looking bum.

Nathan wasn't sure how he should feel about Nika at the moment. With her being with the X-Men and him an Order member. Come to think of it, Nathan wasn't even sure if Nika would know he was with the Order now. Nathan's usual bitterness that would have forced a confrontation wasn't there. Nathan didn't feel like fighting at the moment. But that just meant he wouldn't make the first move.

It didn't take long for a breeze to shift in Nika's direction. She recognized the scent that was carried on the wind. A scent she hadn't smelled in quite a long time, but nonetheless she knew who it was.

"What are you doing here Seraph?"

Nika's tone really didn't indicate much as to what she new about Nathan currently. But at least she hadn't greeted him with an invitation to fight. And that was good enough for Nathan. When he spoke he purposely avoided Nika's earlier question about whether he was alright.

"Oh, hey Nika. I haven't seen you in forever. You look good. I just stopped to smell the flowers, you know? And it seems that those flowers can be quite relaxing actually. I managed to nod off to sleep for a moment there. What's going on with you? How have you been?"

Seraph responded with acknowledging their lack of interaction over the past few years. There was a subtle tone in his voice that still struck a chord with Nika. She would get to that in a minute.

"I've been doing very well thank you. You seem like you've seen better days though."

Nika's bluntfulness was still the same after all this time. It was just part of who she was.

"The flowers do smell very nice. It's always good to stop and smell them once in awhile."

Nika looked Seraph over. His body language was shouting to her that he wasn't alright and so she asked again.

"I know something's wrong so why not tell me? You don't trust an old friend?"

"I've been doing very well thank you. You seem like you've seen better days though."

Nathan offered a small laugh for her comment. "I've definitely been better. But I've been worse too. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself." Nika then commented on the flowers that Nathan mentioned. Her blunt side got the best of her when she asked, "I know something's wrong so why not tell me? You don't trust an old friend?"

That was Nika for you. Nathan really didn't know what to say at first. He changed the subject again, but this time it was a little bit closer to home. Nathan knew he would look overly concerned if he asked about her, but it didn't matter to him at the moment. "How's Ali?"

It looked like Nathan was affraid to say something. He seemed to searching for a topic almost as if trying to keep something hidden. That didn't las as he came right out with what had him so preoccupied. He asked about Ali or Raven Fire as she was known among the X-Men.

"I knew you had her on your mind. Your face made it more than obvious. Besides that, you know I can sense your tension."

Nika shook her head slightly.

"I haven't seen her since she left the mansion. I have no idea where she is now. The only thing I do know is that she had contracted the Haywire virus. Didn't she talk to you about that?"

Nathan felt a his chest relax at her answer. He could breathe again now. Nathan was glad Nika didn't know where Ali was. That would successfully prevent any foolish attempts of him going to see her. But wait. If Nika didn't know where she was, that means she's not at the Mansion. And if she's not there th-STOP! Stop that train of thought right now. You don't care about her anymore, remember?!

Nathan's face showed nothing of the battle that had just took place inside of him. "I had forgotten how intuitive you are." Nathan offered a slight chuckle. "Yeah, we talked about it. I guess that's the reason I'm here." Nathan wanted to change the subject, so he did. "How are the X-Men? Is the team still holding together alright?"

A smile crossed Nika's face when Nathan complimented her on not letting much get by her. She had worked on that skill for times when she had to interrogate people.

"So you're here because of something you said to her then?"

She was still after the real issue Nathan continued to try to keep hidden.

"We're doing alright. Doing the best we can to keep the peace."

Not knowing Nathan's true status Nika wasn't going to tell everything about the X-Men and what they were doing. For all she knew he had been turned into a spy or something.

"So what have you been doing to keep busy?"

Nika's question caught Nathan off-guard. "Well, not here physically, at this moment because of that. More like here as in the state of life that I have right now. We had a falling out, not because of the virus but....I would rather not talk about it right now."

Nathan paused and listened to Nika as she talked about the X-Men. She didn't give away much that was for sure. Nathan probably wouldn't have turned the information over to Lady Syn anyways.

"Oh you know, wander around the streets for a while. Join the friendly anti-human group down the street." He said jokingly. He spoke seriously the next time to clear up any confusion. "I'm with the Order now Nika." And the truth shall set you free...

Obviously Nathan had alot on his mind. Much of it focused on Raven Fire with other stuff mixed in as well. The topic of Ali was a touchy subject so perhaps moving on to something else might ease him up a bit.

The response Nika got from Nathan regarding what he had been up to wasn't at all what she expected. In fact she was certain that the mentioning of the Order gave a very visual sign of her suddenly raised alertness. Her ears stwitched and swiveled all around as she was checking for anything she might've missed while talking to Nathan. Nothing sounded different so her perimeter was still safe.

Nika's eyes narrowed as she watched nathan more carefully now.

"Why would you do such a thing? If you're looking for a fight you might get more than you bargained for."

Nathan made no move as she checked to make sure that there was no ambush. He almost found it amusing to be truthful. "Sorry to dissappoint. You and I are the only ones here."

"Well, to be truthful. I got to thinking and I had a change of heart about a lot of things. I matured I guess you could say. And no, I am not looking for a fight. That would be that last thing I wanted right now. And it would solve nothing anyways. Getting beat down by a catgirl wouldn't convince me to leave the Order."

"Then tell me what change of heart you've had then Nathan. Did you join the Order for an excuse to vent out your frustrations over losing Ali?"

There was no holding back now. Nika was going for the perverbial throat in this conversation. She wanted Nathan to tell all.