Vicente struggled with the man who was on top of him. Not that the man was any good kind of fighter, it was just that the man was bulky and he seemed to be attacking him with everything that he had. It was obvious that he did not want to lose his chance at grabbing the boy because of one person who just happened to run across them. But Vicente was not going down easily. He struggled and held the larger man back, growling and barely his teeth at him. It was obvious that this man was not easily shaken. Thankfully, though, he screeched out in pain as he was distracted by something else.

>> "Leave him alone!”

The assassin kept shoving the man back as far as he could until finally a small Greek girl latched onto his back and began to pull and slap at him as best she could. Even her snakes were getting involved, from what he could see, as they hissed and bit at the man that threatened their friend.

The man screeched, though, loudly, as something happened. Vicente didn’t know what it was, but whatever it had happened to be, it was enough to make him shriek painfully. Slowly go the upper hand as he managed to grip the man’s wrists and turn them painfully until he was knocked onto his back. Now, Vicente with the upper hand, growled at the man as he kept painfully turning the man’s wrists.

>> "Tony! Keep that guy busy, we're going after the kid!"

He turned his head just in time to see the other man, and the one who had been turned young, bolt up on his feet and run off in the direction that he assumed the boy went. Vicente had come too far to lose that little kid now and he was not going to let some trio of freaks ruin this for him. With a snarl, Vicente suddenly shot his head forward and struck the man across his nose, effectively breaking it.

Tony, apparently, screamed out as blood gushed from the wound. His nose was effectively broken in and caused him so much pain that Vicente doubted that he would remain conscious for much longer. Once he was subdued, Vicente, breathing heavily from the battle, stood up wiped the blood from his forehead with his bare hand. Casually he wiped it onto the man’s coat before he turned to where the men had run. He could easily chase after them, but he paused when he saw those curious eyes of Andrea’s looking up at him.

He smirked as he gave her a thumbs you.

“Good job, chica,” he grinned. “Come on! We can’t let them get away!” with that he charged down the alley the man and boys had run down, hoping that Andrea was right behind him…

The blood... the violence... it was a bit much for Andrea. She couldn't fathom what to do in such a situation, and as her friend quickly got the upper hand, she stepped back from fight. When it was all over, he gave her a thumbs up, and it made everything better. She grinned, and started after him.

They needed to find that boy! He has answers to the questions that Vicente wanted to ask, or something... and he needed his nose to be stuck in a corner for hurting a girl. It was just not nice! Andrea found out, however, that her large friend ran much, much faster than she did. Her small legs could only carry her so far, and he had a much longer stride.

She made it back out onto the street, and stared at all of the very, very tall people walking by. Somewhere... her friend had vanished.

"Vishente?" She called... a little shyly. A few people speared her with curious glanced, as she pushed her way past a group of people and out next to the street. "...Where did you go...?"

A sudden sense of loneliness overtook her, and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes again. The world around her was very big... and she felt small. Buildings towered above, strangers wandered around... and she was alone again. The little Greek knelt, and rubbed at her eyes again.

Where had he gone..?

Vicente was a hard man to catch when he was running. Being an assassin, he needed to be able to make a quick exit or entrance so it was of little wonder that the man knew how to run. Unfortunately, with his targets right in front of him, the assassin became single minded. He was only after one thing, that boy and to stop those men from dragging him away for whatever purpose. It was clear now that the boy was source of this strangeness going on in his life and he needed to make sure that whatever the boy did would be permanent.

The gods gave him this chance at another life and he was not going to risk losing it because of some two bit thugs. He could live again! He didn’t have to drown himself in a sea of blood.

But as the assassin rounded a corner, he found the pair of thugs running to a small bridge that rose over a street that had many vehicles running to and fro. On the concrete railing he spied the boy in the glasses, looking down and apparently trying to steel up his courage. The two thugs were taking advantage of this by taking the opportunity to sneak up on the boy.

“There he is! Grab him!” the older man said as he thrust the confused boy (his former partner) forward.

“W-Wha? Tony? W-What’s going on?! Where’s ma?” he asked panicked.

Vicente growled as he turned to tell Andrea to stand back while he took care of the rest of the men. But he turned only to empty space. Andrea was gone. A quick panic washed over him as he looked up to see if he could see her down the street. Maybe he just outran her. But it seemed that in outrunning her, he had left her far behind in his dust. He mental chastised himself. How could he lose a blessed one of Quetzalcoatl? He growled and was torn. Go back for her? Or get to the boy?

He could do both. He had to. He could not risk losing that boy again.

Attention snapped back to the bridge and Vicente stormed forward. A knife flew from his belt as he growled at the nearest Tony who was still trying to convince the younger one of what had happened. But before he could notice Vicente’s presence, the boy screamed and pointed behind his shoulder. Tony turned just in time to see the knife slashing through the air.

Tony staggered back and shoved his young counterpart towards the terrified boy on the ledge again. “Gah! Get the brat!!” He yelled as he struggled to remove a switch blade from his pocket. He was successful, only in time to see Vicente barreling into his mid-section, knocking them both to the ground.

Vicente growled as he struggled to drive his blade into the man’s flesh.

“I will not lose this chance!! I will reclaim it! At any cost!!” he growled menacing…

There was always something to disturb her calm. Ruin her quiet time, and leave her wanting to throw something at the fast moving cars below. So, she did. A car screeched somewhere below, probably due to the glass coke bottle she had lobbed over the side of the bridge crashing through someones windshield.

She had only just sat down to enjoy a moment to herself, after running around the city all day looking for a box set of the TV show her and Greg watched together. For some reason, someone had gone around and bought up the same set... so it had taken her hours to find it. She hadn't even had time to change anything other than her shoes and to drag a coat on, on her way back out of her apartment.

And... now someone, somewhere... was ruining her moment. It seemed to be a trend nowadays. Marching up the pavement of the bridge, she rounded the top to find an interesting scene. A man on top of another man, and some tween kid backing another kid into a corner. It was a confusing sight to see, and then when she noticed who one of the men was... it was awkward.

Oh god...

What was she supposed to do? Run? She felt like running. She really, really didn't want want to talk to him right now... she hadn't even had time to sort out any of what had happened the last time she had seen him! Megan stood there, all sorts of shock written onto her features.. before her eyes turned to the youngest boy. The glasses jogged her memory, and she swore. That was the kid he had been looking for!

Th twenty five year old dropped her bag, dvd's and all, and rushed forward. The boy was heading her way anyway. The teen, who looked more than a little confused, spotted her and faulted for a step or two. Spit kid ran past her, and for some reason decided that she was the best thing to hide behind.

"Please... don't let them get me...please!"

One dark eyebrow shot straight up, but she didn't have much time to snap back at him... because the teen was heading right for her. She fished her stun gun out from the pocket of her dress, and as he closed in on her, she threw it out at him.... Right into his throat. With the push of a button, electricity rocketed into his body. He grunted, went completely ridged, and toppled straight backwards. Megan didn't even flinch when his head smacked into the pavement. She just stood there, stun gun still sparking, and blinked.

"Rafael?... What the #%@& is going on here?"

The battle was ferocious but the assassin was not going to lose to this low level enforcer. With anger behind his eyes, Vicente snarled threatening as he remained on top of the man, gripping his switchblade wielding wrist and twisting it until it broke with a loud snap! The man scream and flailed momentarily and it proved to be all the distraction that he needed. When the man had bucked due to the pain, the assassin growled and lunged one final time, pressing his full weight behind his knife wielding hand until it was buried down to the hilt in the man’s chest.

Tony’s eyes went wide. Blood bubbled up over his lips and soon the light was gone from behind his eyes. The assassin breathed heavily, still pushing against the blade, almost as if he was trying to make sure that he was sincerely dead. It was only when he was satisfied that Tony was no longer going to move again did Vicente stand pull the blade free.

It dripped dots of crimson across the pavement so he knelt down to wipe the blade off and turned back towards where he saw the boy run to.

…only to see the teenager, his former opponent, go down into a heap. Standing in front of his was a sight that he did not in the least suspect…Megan.

Behind her, the boy with the glasses clung to her legs, trying to urge her to run. But Vicente smirked as he straightened up and walked towards her.

>> "Rafael?... What the #%@& is going on here?"

He growled at the thought as he nodded back to dead man and then to the teenager that had apparently been taken down by a taser.

“These two are mob, thugs, whatever,” he said as he then pointed to the boy behind her. “They were after him, for what purpose I don’t know.” He sighed as he kept a distance from the terrified boy. “Kid, I only want to talk to you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Liar!” the boy yelled and tugged at Megan again.

“I mean it,” Vicente said. “I saw what you did. I know what you can do. I…I just want to ask about your power. Is it permanent? Can I stay like this?”

She was tugged at again, harder... more urgently.

It was a little annoying. On a good day, Megan didn't like children. She wasn't a fan of them now, with confusion running rampant and Rafael stalking toward them.

“I saw what you did. I know what you can do. I…I just want to ask about your power. Is it permanent? Can I stay like this?”

The other eyebrow shot up to join it's twin, under the cover of her bangs. Stay like this...? FOREVER? Fear shot through her... fear of many things, none of them normal. ...Or sane.

The selfish side of her nature, which was a pretty big portion, crept up. She didn't want him to be all young and... bleh, forever. She didn't think it was something he needed. He was so much better off in her opinion, the way he had been before the kid had changed him. He didn't care, or..or... any of that awful stuff. She was comfortable with him like that, and she didn't want it taken away....

She didn't care if it was selfish. Not. One. Bit.

"It...It only lasts a little while. A day, I think... Please don't take me back! I don't want to go back..." The kid squeezed her leg, and she winced, drawn from her thoughts. Only 24 hours? The stun gun in her hand shifted, and she looked back to the man she had spent the night with.

"...You only want him for questions... right?" Blue eyes trained on him, and she shifted on her feet. Sneakers silent on the pavement. Unconsciously, she drew a hand back and set it atop the kids head, ruffling his hair slightly. "You're going to let him go...?"

She wasn't sure what he was up to, but the desperation in his voice, and in his eyes, led her to believe that something else was going on. Her mind was going in twenty different directions.. and she really didn't like most of them.

Vicente didn’t understand the suspicious look on Megan’s face. She seemed to be standing there with a purposeful intent to block him from the little boy. He had already said that he was not going to harm him so there really was no need for her to protect him. Vicente had asked his question and tried to appear as none threatening as possible. It was no small feat, mind you, especially considering that he was over six foot, packed with muscles, and had splattered blood across his features. But he still tried. He just wanted to know how long this would last.

It had to be awhile, right? He still felt absolutely great. There was no indication of his real age or anything like that. Instead he felt young and strong just as he did yesterday and last night. So, what? Maybe it was permanent! The gods had blessed him!

But as he stood there, trying not to appear hopeful towards the boy, Vicente listened as he squeaked out in his tiny voice.

>> "It...It only lasts a little while. A day, I think... Please don't take me back! I don't want to go back..."

…

Vicente paused. A day? It only lasted a day? That…was simply not right. It couldn’t be right! He felt fine! He didn’t feel like he’d be shifting back to his decrepit old self or anything! That boy had to be wrong! But…just in case, when was it that he first shifted? He thought, trying to remember what time it happened yesterday that the boy spat on him (he assumed). Down the hours went as he counted before finally he realized…it had nearly been 24 hours already. He had…maybe minutes, give or take, at most! That…that couldn’t be right! Why would the gods tease him like this?

He raised his gaze and locked eyes on the boy. There had to be an answer…

>> "...You only want him for questions... right? You're going to let him go...?"[/color]

One step was taken forward, followed by another. His eyes locked on Megan, not wanting her to get in the way but he would easily toss her aside if he had to.

“I…I’ll let him go. I don’t want to take him anywhere,” Vicente explained. “But I want this to last. I…I don’t want to go back. I sacrificed everything and all it earned me was a lifetime in blood. I don’t want to go back to that. Please boy, just…just come with me,” Vicente said as he held his hand out to him. “Megan…just…step aside. Please…”

Her eyes narrowed, and a scowl twisted her lips. The boy squeaked in fear, and she stepped in front of him. She couldn't allow Rafael to take him. She couldn't allow him to just grab the kid and run.

Run...

The scowl vanished from her face, and for a moment she looked stunned. He was... running? From his past, what he remembered. "It only lasts for a day, Rafael. You can't keep this kid with you forever... that's crazy. He's a child.. he has to do kid stuff, and live his own life." She muttered, brows drawing together momentarily. She could hear cars buzzing past under the bridge, and stood her ground as he slowly approached. ".. You don't even know what type of person you aged into, how do you know you aren't happy, anyway?"

She took a hesitant step back, angling the boy and herself toward the edge of the bridge. He stayed directly behind her, eyes fixed on the terrifying shape of the man with the knife, ready to bolt at a moments notice. "You don't strike me as the type to run away from things... I've seen you take on people with shotguns before. You're strong, and fearless..." She was trying to make it sound convincing, like she was really, honestly trying to help him, or some other sentimental crap.... but she couldn't keep the truth out for long.

"...I don't want you to be like this forever... "

The selfish admission leaked out, and she took another step back, shooting a glance over her shoulder. The stun gun in her hand sparked back to life, and she frowned at him, raising it up into the space between them. Quickly, she glanced behind her, down at the road below. She could grab the boy and run... yeah, but the likelihood of both of them getting away cleanly was... very slim.
Her eyes alighted on a rather large truck heading down the road toward them, and a desperate idea hatched. A very terrible, awful idea. "...I won't let you take him, Rafael."

Megan turned, scooped the kid up and tossed him over the railing of the bridge, just as a garbage truck started to pass underneath. With a shrill shriek the boy latched onto the arm of her shirt and Megan found herself tumbling head long over the side of the bridge with him. Being heavier, she landed first, and unluckily, the boy landed directly on top of her in the bed of the truck.

The drivers didn't even notice the extra weight, and the vehicle kept on going. Megan lifted her head, shaking off loose bits of nasty trash, and glanced back toward the bridge as they sped away.

...Man, he was going to be pissed at her later, if he remembered any of that.