Aiolia knocked on the doors, waited for a brief moment and then walked in. "Hello," she said to the girl laying in the bed. Without saying much more, Aiolia busied her self for a while, moving the nightstand so it would be easily seen from Alice's position. Then she reordered things on it, so there was place for vase with flowers. When it was all done, the woman sat down on the chair. She seemed a little stiff, as if unsure of her place here.

"I am Amante's friend, Aiolia." She smiled a little. "I bought these, thinking maybe you miss some color in your room," Aiolia glanced at the flowers. "I do." The confession was quiet, but sincere. The smile turned in more awkward expression and then went away. "Amante sends you warm regards and best wishes, you know. He didn't leave you, he just had his duties." Although Amante had said nothing of this kind, the woman knew it was in his heart. Whatever had made him leave, be it Ryan or something else, had not changed his feelings for Alice.

Aiolia tried to not think about what had happened earlier, unsure how much Alice would see in her mind. She was used to be like an open book so Elek would have easy time reading the most basic information from her mind, but even she had things she didn't want others to see. And the fact Amante was so enraged could hurt Alice.

Ryan had just finished his discussions with Elek. The outcome had pleased him, just like Alice's attitude towards his small announcement. It was true she didn't know all the details, but that way, she would be hurt less. Now he headed towards Eve's house to let her know he would be joining her with tomorrow. He wondered if she wanted him to attend to group classes - that would be even more brutal that way - but Ryan was up for it.

Alice shifted when she heard the knock at the door and turned to see Aiolia coming in with a beautiful vase of flowers. She smiled and sat herself up, grabbing an extra pillow and pulling it to her back to help her sit up better. It was quiet in between Aiolia's words but, when she mentioned Amante something just didn't seem right. It was apparent on her face that she thought this but she did not push the issue.

Eve was in her home, laying in bed. It was dark and quiet, actually silent aside from the breathing coming from the other side of the room. The sudden knocking on the door stirred them both. A loud hiss jerked into the air and a body shuffled in the darkness. Eve sat up and moved over to the door, popping it open. When she saw it was Ryan, she stepped out, fully clothed, and shut the door at her back. "What?"

"You're quite the mystery to us all, Alice. It's strange that no one really knows anything about you, still everyone cares." Her voice was thoughtful. It was no accusation, she did not oppose this opinion, in a way, Aiolia shared it. "It would be nice if you would someday speak and we could get to know you." The woman smiled a little and helped to make the pillows more comfortable for Alice. It was strange to talk with someone who did not reply. It freed tongue, and yet, it was like speaking with recording device that had soul and mind. Whatever she said, it would not be forgotten.

Aiolia knew she had come here to maybe find out something more about this girl, about her past. Any clue, any information at all would be a great help. Ryan knew only so much, but Alice could possess much greater knowledge. But to ask her when she was like this, when they were even strangers, it felt wrong. And Aiolia was curious - what was it so special, so unique that two men were willing to kill each other for just a bit of attention? Was it this.. fragility, the wish to protect that Alice woke in others? Too bad she would never be able to afford being weak, sweet, soft... Crushable.

"I finished rehab. I am starting lessons tomorrow, either with your group or however you had in mind. When do you usually start?" Ryan got straight to the point, no fancy greetings and well wishes. Not really his style, and he could bet that it wasn't Eve's style either. She was probably a mercenary like him, nothing more, nothing less. Just brute force - power and physical wise - and cunning, to get them further in life. Diplomacy was a dying art.

She liked hearing the compliments and kindness from Aiolia and tilted her head a bit when the other woman spoke of her... speaking, in the future. She hadn't really tried talking, not with her throat. Maybe if she tried harder to communicate with other or... something. She didn't even know if she had powers or, if she did, what they were. It was unlikely these words even took shape as thoughts.

He was done with his therapy and had come to her for training. She glanced over his arm and told him, "The group starts at 9AM, right at the start of breakfast." She changed the time so everyone would cram their faces and make it there with a full stomach. The more uncomfortable they were, the better. "Don't come by today. Tomorrow, 6AM. We'll work on it in a more controlled environment." One on one, more likely.

"It's awfully quiet here, isn't it," Aiolia commented, a little absentminded. "Maybe next time I will bring you some music records. I wonder what kind of music do you like, Alice?" The woman tilted head to the side, deep blue eyes meeting pale ones. At that moment, Ryan walked in, and nearly literally froze in the mid-step. His eyes first stopped at Aiolia, then at Alice and finally to flowers, and man's expression was somewhere between surprise and displeasure. Aiolia chuckled softly at such reaction. He indeed was ready to fiercely defend his position now. If Amante and Ryan found a common base, such as needing to find Alice, after they stopped blaming each other, they would make a formidable team.

"I need to have a word with you, Ryan," she said, the light amusement fading from her voice and heart. "Sure?" Man's brows furrowed further and he walked out of the room. Aiolia quietly shut the door behind her and then faced Ryan. It was too bad, really, she had to be the bad new bearer for second time this day.
"Without operation, special medicine and year long rehabilitation, Alice will never be able to walk, unless miracle happens." She said this as quickly as possible, and then swiftly continued. "Luckily, we can provide all this."

Ryan's face went blank, and white as sheet. "What? Why?" His voice was quiet and still, as if the information had not fully reached his brain yet.
"Achilles tendons in her legs are cut. She can't support her weight or walk."
"I don't know what the hell is that or what it does, but why would someone do that and how can it be fixed?!" The anger was building up now, quickly, a bit more and he would see red.
"I don't know any of that, just that it can and will be fixed. You don't have to threaten Elek for that," Aiolia grabbed the man's sleeve, as he was already turning around, ready to march into a new discussion.
"I will find those fuckers and..."
"You weren't any help with that, though, but maybe Alice..."

A rather explicit threat series followed, Aiolia's words drowning in it. After few minutes, Ryan quieted, though. He ran hand trough hair, then glared at Aiolia.
"Fine. Fine. I will try to find something out. I will pay you, or whatever. Just help her! And leave us alone for now!"
Pushing past the woman, he entered the room again, resisting urge to slam the doors. Heavily, Ryan sat down on her beside, taking Alice's hand and then spontaneously pulled her closer - into a hug. He said nothing, just held her so for some minutes. Inwardly, he was struggling with wish to cry and need to punch someone, comfort Alice and never let her go.

Aiolia watched for brief moment trough the window, then sighed and headed back to Elek's place. There was lot of debriefing to do.

Alice greeted Ryan with a little smile when he came in and watched the two leave the room shortly after. She eased back against the pillows and stared over at the wall, listening to something in the air. She could feel something building up on the other side of the wall and looked away from the window. Watching it, she realized it was the wrong one, eyes following up along the ceiling to the window and the door.

She could barely see the two of them. Mostly, she saw Ryan's shoulder. Every now and then she would get a glimpse of Aiolia's arm or her back. Things were getting heated and she could tell despite hardly being able to hear them. It was... strange. It felt like the wall with the door and window was starting to buckle in under the tension but it didn't- and Ryan came in so quickly she almost jumped out of her skin. She must have been caught up in... whatever was going on.

Concerned, she tried to ask him what was wrong but could not form words. He came to her so suddenly and held onto her. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, she didn't react immediately but within a few moments her arms moved up and she hugged him back. Maybe if she did this holding thing, it would do for him what he was trying to do for her.

Ryan held Alice hugged for a long time, then finally let her go and helped her lay back in the pillows, with a smile. For her, he couldn't express any of those conflicting emotions right now. Alice needed calm, soothing atmosphere where she would recover and feel homily. Maybe then she would speak finally, and some things would clear up. He was dreading the moment he would have to tell the girl about the operations.

Pushing those thoughts away, knowing that if he would linger on them, the rage would return, Ryan tried to start up a casual chatter, so usual for them. "I see she brought you flowers. Do you like them? I am trying to guess now, if it has your favorite flower in it. Hmm." The man stared at the bouquet for a long time, because he was trying to picture Alice with flowers - and the image turned out to be really cute.

"I think... Your favorite could be lily. Or rose." In reality, those were basically the only flower names that Ryan knew. For him, all flowers were pretty, but he couldn't tell them apart. Not that he had any chance to learn them properly in his past. Lilies he remembered from his mother's wedding day. She had wedding bouquet of those. He had often stared at the photo, trying to will that smiling, happy woman from it to the present time. But the drunk, depressed version never left.

"I like lilies." "And wouldn't it be nice to have a big garden one day? With big trees, swings, fountains and what else goes with that..." Ryan tried to picture something out of tv shows about the rich people, or soap operas. The thought that she might never be able to walk on her own feet trough such scenery, made him frustrated and Ryan tried his best to think about something else.

She smiled and nodded when he asked if she liked the gift and watched him, listening. When he started to list a few flowers he thought may be her favorite, she shook her head no. Holding her hands out flat, she counted off numbers on her fingers and then pushed the fingers down into her hands, held her hands to her chest and seemed to... cuddle them. Alice liked all flowers.

At the mention of a garden, in their future, she lit up. A garden would be... amazing. The girl seemed to glow with delight at this prospect. Now she wanted to see all of the flowers in the world and put them in one place- with herself and Ryan.

At first, Ryan was disappointed that he hadn't guessed correctly. Then, he watched with interest what she tried to show him and then laughed a little. "I should have known. It sounds so like you, to like them all." She was a sweet girl, probably the sweetest person he had ever known. Somehow pure, untainted by all the pain and horrors she must have gone trough - and still did. Yet, Alice did rely on him, and he would not let her down.

Ryan smiled, even more honestly now, to see her so happy at the thought of a garden. Another thing in his imaginary list for future, then. Although it was already turning into mansions of sorts, and would require a lot of money, he didn't bother with making it more down to earth. Once in a while, everyone should be allowed to dream.

Ryan stayed talking about random things and envisioning that possible garden (to his rather limited knowledge) for a while more, but then nurse came and told it was time for bed. He had missed dinners and the man's stomach reminded it loudly. After giving her a soft kiss on forehead and bidding Alice good night, Ryan left to find something edible and have some sleep. Tomorrow would not be an easy day.

Ryan arrived about half hour later. He was now used to about 4-6 hours of sleep, so he naturally woke up after that. In a way, it was good to live in a place like this - you could sleep as much as you wanted, eat something when you wanted and feel safe, at least for now. But although he had wanted to reach such level for years, Ryan was restless. He now wanted more, he had true goals and dreams. And someone to take care of.

His arm was still stiff, and Ryan hoped Eve would not just break it out of elbow joint, or off his shoulder, but it was already quite usable. He sat down on one of the empty house doorsteps, staring at the opposite wall in silence.

Alice enjoyed his company and just listening to him go on and on. Somehow, she was able to see what he imagined- a large, beautiful home with a luxurious array of flowers growing up vines that cascaded down pillars and... and... her eyelids started to drift shut, head turning down and to the side as he spoke. It was only a few moments before she'd fallen asleep and then a nuse came in to retrieve Ryan for bed...

A roar followed after a metal desk that had been torn out of the ground and flew across the room. It slammed into the wall, breaking in half. Furry arms thrashed out at chairs and other objects. There was nothing. No information, no paperwork, no security cameras- "Nothing!!" His arms lashed out again, roars sounding with tearing and smashing. Elek had given him the address a while back and he'd been able to find it but the bastards had moved.

They never stayed in one place for too long, and this was no exception. How could he be so stupid, so hopefully stupid, to think that they would still be here after Alice had been taken away? Right out from under their noses no less.

Amante slammed his furred arms onto the table and roared at the wall. The muscles in his neck bulged out as saliva flung in specks and globs. It felt like his eyeballs were going to pop out of the sockets from the sheer rage that threatened to consume him.

Shortly after he arrived, Eve stepped out of her little home and locked the door behind her. Seeing Ryan, she shoved some hair off of her shoulder and motioned to him. "Good, you're on time." Thankfully she didn't have to go over that number. "Now, we're just going to work on getting your arm into fighting condition. If I throw you in with the rest of the animals you'll be back on the table within a few minutes and then you'll have to start physical therapy all over again."

She moved a little way off from the buildings so they had some open space and she motioned him closer. "How much hand to hand combat experience do you have?"

Ryan stood up immediately Eve came out. He stood quiet, listening to her, nodding a few times, but at her question, shrugged. "Some gang battles, most of my tasks - kicking well taught apes. But I usually mixed my powers into it."
Indeed, he usually relied on his powers to make him invisible or make his punch carry more force. Without his powers, he was your average man with average fighting experience. His trump was surprising with force and speed.

"We're doing this with no power aid, ye?" He had heard she possessed some great power, but what exactly, Ryan did not know. The man was not afraid, just a bit wary. Of course, if he could use his powers, it would be easier, but maybe not help the goal. Though, what bad would be in absorbing some of the punches and kicks she threw at him?

She huffed, though a partial grin tugged at her lips. "We're doing this as average people. There won't be any combat going on until we're certain your arm can keep up with your natural reflexes. We've got to start you from square one, understand?" Eve put her hands up toward him in a fighting position and used her eyes to tell him to do the same. When he was ready, she reached out and slowly started to move her hands around as if she were to hit him, but he'd have plenty of time to block. Their training would become more rigorous and pick up in speed through out the day but they still moved rather slow.

Once it was time for her to teach the masses, she grabbed his arm in a hold and held it, glancing over as people approached the area. "Alright, that's enough for today. Go get something to eat." She let go of him and tossed her bangs from her forehead.

It was yet another peaceful day - like all when Amante was gone. It seemed he always brought unrest wherever he went. Certainly, in her life at least. Leila did not rejoice for his pains and suffering - too much. Part of her felt slight compassion even. Leila knew how it was when a dear person suffered, and there was nothing you could do about it, or to revert the time and change the happenings...

However, mostly she did not think about Amante much. Or tried not to. There was something about him that made her puzzled. And Leila loved to figure people out. Trough that, she came to terms with her self, seeing how twisted and cracked people around her were. Trough that, she distanced her self from people even more. There was space separating her from others, always, as long as her memories remained, imprinted in her brains, returning in nightmares, or painful thoughts.

Wrapped in shadows, practically invisible without trying, Leila floated down the sewer. Not high up, but still good deal above the ground. Her eyes were half shut, but she was aware of each brick or movement in every direction. So, Amante's slumped form she noticed long before she reached it. Becoming more visible, but only slightly, she floated above him, head tilting to the side. "Hmm..."

The man lay on his stomach, arms and legs bent up and splayed out, making little to no sound. He had been up for days, rampaging and tearing things apart, and when he was done he got wasted. Again. He reeked more of booze than he had any other time Leila had found him, though no bottles were to be found.

His clothes were dirtier than usual and his skin had a thin layer of dirt, mud and something else on him. His facial hair had grown out and become a bit unruly; he just needed to shave. The mess of a man was fast asleep, likely passed out from a drunken stupor, and he almost looked... old. His features were a bit more drooped but he still looked stern or even upset, even as he slept.

Leila floated there in silence for a short while, looking down at the man, out cold. To get drunk like this... Rather despicable trait. Although she sometimes doubted his sensibility, she thought he would know better than getting drunk to this point. Like a homeless dog, he got wasted and slept where he could, with no true attachment. The friends he picked seemed to more often bother him than aid him. Yet, Amante had picked someone whom could put him in this state - and worse than that. The girl meant so much to him? Apparently.

Thoughtfully, Leila floated off. It was the last round of the patrol, after that she could go to sleep. But the past few nights, she had been more busy working on her shadow net tightening, or writing, than sleeping. The anxiety of no drugs had to be worked out somehow, to not make her even snappier than usually.

He took in a sharp, raspy breath and coughed with his mouth shut. The cough raked harder on his throat and he opened his mouth to let it out. Sitting up, he groaned and touched a hand to his face. If last night hadn't been enough to throw him on his ass, he didn't think being drunk ever again would be possible. Amante rolled onto his back and sat up when he heard the crunching sound of plastic beneath him.

Amante reached back and grabbed a plastic water bottle from his pants and shook it. There was hardly a gulp left but he opened it up and started to drink it up. His head didn't hurt but he felt relatively numb, which was good. At least, that's what he thought.