The next day was early. They woke at the crack of dawn, quickly and silently donning their gear and stuffing their backpacks full of whatever canned goods the apartment had in its pantry. Piers felt strange as they left the doorway one before the other, Jake gently nudging him forward with a few fingertips between his shoulderblades.

“How far to Checkpoint Three?”

“A few hours, but we need to hole up in there for at least a couple nights.”

“What are you talking about? We need to get the sample to Sherry as soon as possible, we don’t have time to-“

Piers quickly spun on his heel, stopping in the middle of the hallway and looking up at Jake. The other man nearly slammed into him, stopping himself with only a couple inches of space between them. He huffed and started to argue again, but Piers held up a hand, and he miraculously stopped. Piers blinked. He really hadn’t expected that to work. Jake had never shut up on command, why was he starting to do it now? Piers pressed on before Jake changed his mind.

“We need to secure a power supply for our radio transmitter. There’s a checkpoint gate in the middle of the city that won’t open unless we contact the personnel stationed there.”

“I thought you said they’d abandoned us.”

Us? Since when was there an us?Piers shook his head before his mind ran away with that thought.

“We have to try. It’s our only option, unless you want to scale twenty feet of electrified barbed wire.”

“I’ve done worse.”

“But I see your point. We can contact Sherry, too, maybe get a better idea of where that lab is.”

“Good idea.” Piers couldn’t believe he was saying it. The words felt strange on his tongue. The corner of Jake’s mouth turned up, and he nodded, reaching around Piers and pushing the stairwell door open. He gestured into the open space with his free hand.

“After you.” Piers nodded and lead the way down the stairwell and out the back exit.

“I’m... curious about something.” Piers spoke slowly, hesitantly, as he gripped the cold metal rungs of the ladder and lifted himself up. From above him, Jake reached the top and leaned back over, extending a hand. He did it quickly and smoothly, as though it was second nature. Again Piers was vexed by the familiarity, annoyed both because he hadn’t asked it of Jake and because Jake seemed so ready to give it, as though there was no bad blood at all. Nothing between them but a working relationship and a few mutual friends. Piers still hadn’t forgiven him for Edonia. Why should he? It had only been a few months since Jake had tried to start a fight with his superior officer unprovoked. A lesser man than Chris would’ve taken the bait. Piers tried not to think about where that left himself. It was still less than a year since Jake’s split from the mercenary lifestyle. Did he still have a price on his head, or had the US Government pardoned him on the “hero” account? Piers was reluctant to believe that a person could change that quickly and that absolutely. He was meant to believe that Sherry had simply walked into this man’s life and turned it around? Saving the world (for Jake had, unfortunately) could account for the change, but Piers suspected it might be... something else. He was stuck on Sherry again. She was an unknown variable in this. What kind of influence did she exert over Jake?

Too many questions. He took Jake’s hand, gripping tight as though Jake might go back on it halfway through and open his fingers, letting Piers crash back down to the street. Jake pulled him up the rest of the way, until they were standing together on the gravel rooftop. He looked over at Piers, releasing his hand and letting his own fall to his side.

“Is this a voluntary question, or are you interrogating me again?” He raised a brow. Piers crossed his arms.

“Perfectly voluntary, of course. You don’t have to answe if you don’t want to.” Jake nodded at that.

“Out with it.” He said at long last.

“I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Have you-“

“And your past.” Jake’s expression soured at that, and he leaned back on his heels.

“Of course.” He said darkly. “But that’s not a question.”

“I’m getting to that part.”

“What could Sherry have possibly said to make you leave it all behind? I’ve read your file, you’ve been a hired gun since you were sixteen. Why the sudden change of heart? Are you two-“ Piers stopped. How was he supposed to say this? “Is she...?”

“My girlfriend? Is that what you’re asking?”

“I said you didn’t have to answer, no need to be obtuse-“

“She’s... no. Not that.” Jake laughed again, running a hand over the top of his head. His lips twisted into a shy smile. “She’s special to me.”

“How so?” Piers prodded.

“There’s something about her. She’s so uniquely, innately good. She’s been through hard times, just like me, but...” “For me, the dead parents, the shitty childhood, the mercenary thing- it made me hard. I buried everything I thought made me weak. It didn’t do that to her. Her hard times- they made her strong, but she didn’t stop being kind. She was kind to me, even at the beginning, when I was such a little fucking tool.”

“I know you think it’s true. And I know you think i’m still like that. It’s fine, I really was an absolute piece of shit. I’ve done a lot of things I regret.”

“But I dunno. Sherry told me that being strong means protecting the things that are important to you and standing up for what you think is right. Not just looking out for yourself. So, I said, starting now, i’m going to stick up for the things I believe in. I’m going to use my skills to unfuck the world a little, try to fix the things my father ruined. I think I owe everyone that much.”