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He said not saint’, like he had read her mind. Then forgiven the girl like it had been nothing. After that, he had turned his attentions to her.

Bad assumptions had lead to embarrassment. Lenna was still getting over her apology. Sam did not push things on her too hard. He did not moan and yell and try to make her feel low. He merely... told her he would not accept her apology unless she went out with him for dinner and drinks. And offered her a burrito bite.

Lenna’s brow arched at the sudden shift. The way he had phrased it, he had left very little room to navigate without error. Should she deny his request, she would offend him. Should she take it... somehow, it felt wrong to go out for dinner when she was still waiting on someone else to call her up. It was unclear where she stood with that person. But she stood somewhere... unless he never called her back.

At least, Sam had his proud swagger going for him. It mildly amused her, alongside the frustration it brought like the wind from a storm. The girl’s mouth twitched slightly at one of its corners. The start of a half smile. He had earned some small concession.

”Sandwiches and Coca Cola,” She said. ”It is the best I can do. I will make you an empanada. I make killer empanadas. You, will die. And go straight to the heavens.” She looked him dead in the eye. There was a mischievous cast to the look. And the smile. Surely, that would be acceptable. ”As for the burrito...”

Lenna had planned to tell him no thank you, and to move on. But she had yet to have eaten, that day. Her stomach growled. Hrm. ”Yes.” She said.

Lenna walked up and took a dainty bite. Just to try the thing. She took a step back from him, and finished chewing. ”It is not bad. I am Lenna, by the way.” People who shares their food could learn her name.

He had looked so absent, staring off into space. Just looking off into a void. And the color had drained from his features, leaving him... a lighter shade of orange, ok? She had worried she had broken him. That he would begin to drool shortly. Then, when she had been about to push him down and start performing the CPR, he had sucked in a huge breath and come back to her. His hands had quivered, and he had taken many pills for the pain. Dry. Frenetically. As if he had needed them in order to survive. Perhaps, he did.

He had been so pale. She had shown him too much. Hurt him. Her face did not give it away. She did not want him worrying about her when she was more worried about him. So, she had let him speak and work through what he’d seen and what he had to say. Since he had made a sacrifice to get that information.

His words confused lenna. Worried her. Multiple versions? Her, older her, and the other her. He had worked for a Lenna? The older Lenna? The other Lenna?Which one? He was as confused as her. And confusing her. But mostly, she was worried about him.

Ty wanted to do something with his powers, something that could show her. Snippets. What a fun word. Was the potential for pain supposed to scare her? Lenna had made him feel pain... willingly, yes. But she still felt terrible about it. And also, underneath that, impressed. Proud of him for being so tough and brave. And creative, to try and save time by giving memories to her directly. Compared to what he had endured, any pain she would feel was nothing. It would help him work through the confusion. She wanted to help him out.

Lenna watched him hold the glove. Felt his hand on hers... he was trying to comfort her. Sweet man. He did... something. His eyes turned a different shade of orange.

He told her he would be there for her, and all she would have to do was touch the glove. Before she did that, there was something she needed to do.

Lenna placed her free hand on Cowboy’s face, and gently stroked his cheek. ”I am sorry I caused you pain.” She said, voice quavering. She bit her lip. ”You are so brave. So strong. Thank you. Do not worry about me.”

Then. She kissed him. Quickly. Bowed her head so her forehead pressed against his, and just rested there for the moment. The hand she had put against his cheek dropped to touch the glove. The memories drew her in, as she sat there, close to him. Forehead still against his. Because doing this all while still kissing him might have been weird. She was nice like that. Very thoughtful.

Boom, went the Memories.




The woman was older than her. An older her. There was no sound, so Lenna could not hear anything said. In the memories, there was also no orange filter. It felt like looking upon an alien world, after over a week of orange.

A man approached the woman from behind. Then, he cut her off and laid hands upon her. This Lenna was sloppy, or else consumed by something. Grief? She had that look Lenna knew that she got, when something was bothering her... but what?

They spoke, and she seemed distraught. He seemed surprised. First, he had seemed almost relieved, but it had quickly shifted into something else as him and Older her spoke. If only she could have read their lips...

The memory ended too soon. The next time she saw herself, she was not herself. Older, different, blonder. Leggier. She saw the poorly lit street at night, and the strange mystery woman.

This woman had been following someone. Something had happened, and the whole area had dimmed. The woman had clawed at something in her ear and thrown it to the ground. One word passed through Lenna’s mind. Earwig?

Why would this blonde with a different face be using an earwig, like security teams utilize? And why did she have her purse?

The source of the disturbance that took out the lights quickly became apparent. A hobo dressed in rags, sparking on the sidewalk. He was unconscious.

The blonde went to nudge the hobo with her foot, and got a shock. A youthful face. Not an old wino vagrant, after all. In the light from the sparks, Lenna got a better look at the woman’s face. Cupid’s bow lips and piercing blue eyes. Calculating blue eyes. A crinkled brow as she stared down at the kid. He had a bottle of wine and a needle. That made her sad. It seemed to make the other woman sad, too.

A short bit later, the woman entered the bar. There was yet another mystery woman talking to another mystery woman. The mysteries were piling up. Blonde got one woman’s attention. Something happened. Weird, slow flight. Right into a machine with a rounded top and a brightly lit glass front.

Things happened fast, after that. There was smoke and sparks, the flash of steel. Another needle?!

Amid the smoke and disorder, Lenna was pricked... and she changed. That answered her question about who the blonde had been. It had been her, with a new face.

Everything got even messier, after that. The woman escaped as the room swirled and Lenna started hitting people. She actually remembered parts of that!

Did she really look like that when she fought? It was a wonder her clothes had not fallen off.

As Lenna escaped with the Megan girl, the memories faded back into the real real world.

A regretful sigh escaped her as the orange filter returned like a bad joke.

Cowboy had imprinted only a few of the many memories... and everything beyond the deAging would have been redundant to her. Probably saved her a headache— wait, no. There it was. Lenna pulled away from Cowboy’s forehead with a muttered curse. Her head throbbed.

She put out one hand and requested pills, please. Then, she turned her focus back to interesting what she had watched.

Had that boy with the wine been deaged like them? What was the symbolism of the needle? Was that the cause of it all? But then, what about the gas? That had done something, too. The people in the bar had lost control. Scared and erratic, much like she had been during her first few moments in New York. When she had been convinced she was still in a fight on her first mission. That was her hot take on it. Youthful inexperience and disorientation. Did that mean her powers were messed up by lack of control as well? It would explain... things. Orange things.

The Megan girl had been affected by the gas. Deaged too. She had been following the Megan girl? But why? Was it a mission... to take, or to kill? She needed to talk to her to make certain the young woman was safe. Stayed safe. Whoever she had been working for— something clicked. Not solidly, but it clicked like a few seconds of pressure might finish the connection.

”The blonde woman was me. I had changed my face. I have her cards and identification. Got chased out of my own damn apartment.” She clenched a fist and gritted her teeth. ”Screw you, Kyle..” Lenna blushed, realizing what she’d said. And what he might have seen. ”You... you watched that. Yes? With the men, and the stolen phone... on the roof? What other embarrassing things did you see...? Did you—“

Lenna plucked up her purse, and smiled what she hoped was a mystifying smile. She let out a low laugh. Tried to play away the embarrassment as no big thing.

”I hope you missed out on the last half hour. Some conversations between friends are better left a secret, yes?” She smiled, smiled, and might have kept her cool... if the conversation with mama Sky about safety and her feelings had not invaded her thoughts.

Lenna’s cheeks flushed a feverish red. She would have preferred him to accidentally see her naked half a hundred times in purse-vision than to have had him hear that discussion once.

Come to think of it, he probably has. She thought.

Lenna fanned at her face with her purse. ”Let us get back on the topic.” She said. ”What did I say to the man? Why did he want to talk?”

Was she still holding his hand?

The girl’s casual attitude was one Lenna did not fully understand how to interpret. Was she dismissive because she did not wish to put Lenna out, or was she dismissive because she did not care if Lenna was thankful for something she had done? Lenna chose to withhold an interpretation until later. She chewed it over, as it were.

The snort when she went out of her way to make an admission of weakness helped her decide something. The girl was rude, and her earlier dismissal had been because she did not care if Lenna was thankful or not. This realization did not make lenna like or dislike the girl any more than she already did. It was simply filed away. ‘Rude girl. Bought me a hot dog.’ The world was full of rude people and one should not get upset if they happen not to like you. Her feelings were not hurt at all.

Make or steal money. Lenna did not immediately reply to this.

The phrasing when the girl gave her name made Lenna think the girl was referring to her as Veronica for a moment. ‘You learn something every day, Veronica.’ Odd. She opened her mouth to say ‘hey! My name is not Veronica. It is Lenna. I just told you it is Lenna.’ But, then she shut it. Of course, it was just a weird introduction. The girl probably had a lot of hot dog on her mind.

For the moment, she maintained politeness. It was the logical thing to do. Why act high and mighty when you aren’t? Why act tough and say things like ‘oh, of course! Steal sh*+ and get a job! My mistake!’ Or ‘I am homeless because government agents chased me out of my place. I robbed them, if that makes me sound any better. But their cash is limited and their credit cards got shut off after the first several days of spending sprees for Kyle Tannenbaum and Bob Mann,’ or even ‘I do not pick pockets or mug people. I loot bodies.’ That last one would have gotten some looks.

Polite talk is good decorum. It helps you avoid beginning fights. Which, unfortunately, reduces the amount of bodies that pile up. Sorry, Veronica. This is why I am broke.

She was no murderer. Not yet, at least. Even though it was what she had been trained for her entire life. She had not really given much thought to that situation. One would think a highly trained assassin might be a little more kill happy. But then, trained assassins do not get to go on dates and eat ice cream with cute boys.

”You are right.” Lenna said mildly, Spanish accent getting thicker as she spoke. ”Veronica. I am new to this city, though. I am not familiar with the types of work available to me. My last employer sort of died. As did everyone I know. I just sort of showed up here, actually. And no one prepared me to pick pockets or get jobs at Burger King. Which is kind of f*****ed up.”

You would think, with all the training she had ever received in her entire life, there would have been something there about a life with work outside of the assassination game. Some life skills lessons to help prepare a kid so they don’t wind up 16, with less life skills than some hot dog girl on the street. And what was that about her having wanted to remain civil, and be polite about the whole thing? Yeah. She felt a little heated about everything now. And it was only partly Veronica’s fault. Still, Lenna could dial it back a bit, she supposed.

She took a calming breath, and said ”Sorry. This has nothing to do with you. I just realized the people who raised me gave me zero life skills, and it made me mad. You do not have to care, of course. You are not some sort of psychologist. Just a mildly nice person on the street. Thank you again for the hot dog.” She held it up in a gesture. A ‘yes, this IS a hot dog. Look!’ Type of gesture.

Lenna took a bite of the hot dog, and contemplated just walking away from this entire conversation. Not all people are Thais. Not all people are Cowboys. You open up, you leave yourself exposed. She should be a bit more careful about where she extended trust. It does not always achieve positive results.

Lenna had said one simply does not buy two hot dogs. Then she simply went and bought two hot dogs!! That made Lenna a liar.

Her mouth stayed closed as the other girl ordered her hot dogs. Perhaps, they were for the girl herself. It sounded like she knew exactly what she desired, and was not afraid to demand it. Most likely, the dogs were for her. But no, she held one out for Lenna.

Throw food... in the trash? Part of her wished to deny this woman, to abjure her claim. It was not messed up. It was simply temporarily garbage.

Okay. It was permanently garbage. She would not argue. The dog sailed into the trash. Lenna took the offered hot dog with a restrained ”Thank you.”

Careful not to spill, Lenna took a bite of her dog. It was a much needed improvement over the last. Chewing, she nodded and mmm’d. Swallowed. Spoke.

”I am Lenna. Thank you again for the hot dog. It is good. Mine was trash... I just do not have much money to throw around building better hot dogs.”

It was tough to admit. But she momentarily shelved her pride.

Who gets up before 6am? Silly not-assassins who go to bed too early and wish to rise earlier to make up for lax American attitudes with excess cardio.

Lenna was in exercise gear. Black sweatpants and a black hoodie over an orange t-shirt, with orange and white sneakers. Her hair hung to her shoulders, wind tossed.

She had just finished running for an hour around the mansion grounds. Was just heading back to her room in the women’s half of the mansion, for a shower, when she saw it. The man. In the women’s quarter. With a bag of food and coffee. Going to visit some woman, no doubt. Up to scoundrel ways!

She clenched one fist. Then, she set to following him.

As a rule of thumb, she moved silently, creeping along behind him at a distance and keeping to one corner of the hall. Lenna thought invisible thoughts.

She had been trained in stealth skills, alongside the fighting and languages and other useful things... and she was pretty good at moving undetected, she thought.

What was this rogue doing in the women’s quarters? Lenna would find out. If it was something lewd, he would need a new face. This was the WOMEN’S quarters. Have some decency, man!

He stopped in front of a room and knocked. It took a long while for the woman inside to open the door. She thought she might have heard some shouting, and tried to listen, but she was too far away. She did not get close enough to hear until after he had entered the room with his dark intentions. And then—


>>”So. Sam.” The woman began slowly. “You said, and i quote. ‘Normally you get breakfast in bed after I sleep with you.’ Did... did something happen I don’t remember? Because—“

”You scoundrel,” Lenna said, stepping into the doorway. From the outside the room, she pointed in at the man on the stool of ice. ”You monster. You, you— NERF HERDER!” she shouted.

Her voice was low and husky, with a Spanish or Columbian-sounding tilt to it. Like maybe Shakira.

The girl in the room stared at her. It was not a woman. It was a girl who looked to be about Lenna’s age. And she looked confused.

Lenna blinked. ”How dare he?” She said, suddenly uncertain. ”Sneaking into the women’s quarters and doing that.”

Lenna had no problem with people being intimate, within reason. But what she had just overheard sounded entirely unreasonable. And lewd. And wrong.

Good. He was not homeless either.

Wait. He had been homeless? In the background of her mind, lenna resolved to ask more about him. Because she had not and it was her fault. In Her minds foreground, she decided that she would tell him. Later, after his own story.

She had nodded. Then asked about him. And he had told her.

Lenna listened.

Lenna listened.

Lenna listened.

Lenna listened.


Lenna listened, and wished that she had pulled up a comfortable chair.

Throughout all of that listening, Lenna had not gone google eyed or goggle eyed. Her face had stayed a perfectly acceptable mild. Cowboy finished, by stating he wished she still desired to stay around.

Lenna did not say anything, at first. She merely took a few steps over to a nice patch of grass, seated herself, and bent her legs so that she was comfortable. Then, she patted the patch of grass directly next to her.

”Please, have a seat.” Lenna said.

Once he was seated or standing, she continued calmly. ”So. What you just said right there, is like, so much crap.” She nodded and clarified. ”Difficult. And similar to what I have gone through since shortly before I met you. And of course I am sticking around, you idiot. You are like my boyfriend or something. Right?”

That was how this worked, yes? She really wasn’t too familiar with labels. She had heard stories about boyfriends and girlfriends, but that had never been something for her... at least, when she had been in Columbia at the school. No longer was this the case. And if she was going to be smooching and mildly romantic, she was going the fskkking whole way. She would not bother with questions like ‘are we’, ‘are we not?’ Or ‘is this a date.’ Once again, she had decided this herself. But in this scenario, he had a right to disagree with something other than her fist if he did not wish to be her boyfriend.

Lenna looked at Cowboy for confirmation, frowning slightly.

His response to her failure to master basic cellular phone technology was not as important as what Cowboy said afterwards. That had her attention zeroed in.

>>”I missed you.”

Goof ball.

Damn it, mansion. Fix your heaters.

Her voice was as warm as the mansion’s freaking heaters when she said ”Good.”

And then he asked her to meet with him. Yes. Most definitely.

He said as soon as she wanted to. She said ”Soonest.”

They would meet up in the park by the pizza place. But he would show up. In a muscle car. See you in a bit?!

She agreed, and he hung up, and only then did she realize she was screwed. Lenna tossed her hands up in the air and swore out loud. How in the hell was she going to get to that place, Cowboy? She did not know New York.

And she did not know enough to call up a car to take her there because it was not as if she had an address. What was she going to do?

The thought came to her as she stared at the hat on the dresser. A memory of her telling a story, and spinning it up in the air.

Quickly, Lenna cleaned herself up and put on a clean outfit. In her haste, she did not ask for any second opinions. A few minutes later, she stomped down the halls of the mansion in a hot pink and white striped t-shirt, with a green zip up hooded sweatshirt, a violet scarf, white and red tennis shoes, and weathered blue jeans. The sky blue hair ribbon was tied in a bow in the back of her hair, supporting the ponytail underneath the black Cowboy hat. She stopped outside of Sky’s room.

Lenna really hoped the woman was home. Luck was on her side. She was!

It took some quick explaining, but Sky understood. Lenna had a date, but no ride, an idea of where the place was, but no address, and she needed assistance.

The woman did not drive a car, herself, but she knew how to call up a car to take them there. Lenna made certain to remember this, because it would be as important for travel as utilizing the subway in the near future. Thankfully, she had already raided the subway for all her sh*^.

They rode in the cab together. With her phone and the names of the places Lenna and Thai had gone, she was able to locate the location. Lenna made a point to memorize how Sky utilized the martial art she referred to as “Google-fu.” It was more useful than Krav Maga at finding stuff.

A short time later, they pulled up outside the pizza place. Sky gave her a five dollar bill, and told her to be safe. Lenna thanked her repeatedly. Then, Sky left Lenna to her date.

Lenna had made certain to be safe. She had gotten Sky to give her the number to her cellular phone while they rode in Jeff’s cab, so that she could contact her if anything were to happen, or she needed a ride. Part of her had wanted to put the name in as ‘Mama Sky’, and she really did not know why. She did not input it as Mama Sky. Just Sky.

Checking the contents of her black leather purse, Lenna mentally prepared herself. Then, she headed for the nearby park. Mismatched, yet almost matched.

The park, it was quite a large park. She found a muscle car parked nearby. That was a good clue. But where was the Cowboy? It only took her a few moments to skim over the area and locate the boy with orange hair. He was by an orange tree. Being orange.

The first thing she said to him after striding across the grass to get near, was not an accusation. Admission of weakness is not good. She had sorted through the issues and resolved her own problem. With help from Mama Sky. From his point of view, the problems had probably seemed very small. No. What she said was— Nothing. Because she flew across the area to fling herself on him and —

How does one describe a flying tackle hug pounce kiss where the person is climbed like a tree? Because Lenna did that.

He had tried to one up her with that last kiss, days ago. She had not forgotten. Apparently, this was going to be a recurring thing.

After the kiss, Lenna extracted herself from his person. She slapped the black cowboy hat on his head.

”I promised.” She said. ”I keep my promises. Remember that.” She said, earnestly. Then, she smiled at him. ”Now, how are you doing?”