Mercy and Keagan rode silently to his temporary apartment in Cynosure.

The taxi driver sensed the tension in the air and so he turned down the radio.

Keagan’s breaths were even and his mind was clear. Mercy on the other hand…

They eventually arrived at the high end apartment and made their way to his place.

Keagan smelled something delicious in the air as he opened the door. He entered the place to find a neatly dressed Roy standing in the kitchen.

Roy noticed Keagan and Mercy.

Keagan, in turn, noticed the bags under Roy’s eyes.

“Hey.” Keagan greeted as he made his way to the couch.

“Hey.” Roy greeted without abandoning his post at the stove.

“How was work?” Roy asked. His voice low, tired and his words labored.

“You know how it is. Clock in. Clock out.” Keagan said before sighing.

Mercy sat silently next to him as he pondered.

“What happened?” Keagan asked softly.

Mercy fiddled with her fingers. Her eyes darted around the room and Keagan could tell she was panicking.

“Was it Rapture? Cause if it is, we’ll have to go the hospital-"

“It- it wasn’t Rapture.” Mercy said with a slight stutter.

Keagan’s brows furrowed.

“He threatened me again.” Mercy said.

“What did he want from you?” Keagan asked.

“He wanted me to work for him… as a personal assistant.” Mercy said as she looked at something that wasn’t quite there.

“I see. Dammit.” Keagan said as he leaned back. He had completely failed to get anything out of Dan and Mercy’s situation was only getting worse.

Roy served everyone their meals and they ate in silence.

Roy could see that Mercy was in a bad place and there was nothing Keagan could do about either of their situations.

Keagan burped loudly as he stretched his legs.

“Fuck.” He cursed.

“Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” Keagan suppressed his screams as best as he could because no matter how hard he thought, there was no way he could go against a man like Andre Astali.

“I’m sorry.” Keagan said as he reached out for Mercy’s hand.

She accepted it as he offered Roy his other hand.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Keagan asked as Roy sat by his side. They then held hands as the night hung.

Keagan wondered if maybe he could somehow convince Andre to let Mercy go, but he didn’t even know where to begin.

.

..

Mercy and Roy eventually fell asleep.

Keagan whipped out his phone and texted the only person he could think of.

[Hi, oh dear sweet love of mine. What’s up?]

Silva asked.

[I need your help.]

Keagan typed.

[Oh? What do you need?]

Silva asked.

[It’s your husband. I’m not sure how, but he’s threatened one of my colleagues.]

Keagan said. His heart calm and his breaths steady.

[Oh? Mmm… if I can be completely honest, Andre has had a lot of pets. I’m not sure which one you’re talking about. Also… are you gonna play with me soon? Karisa told me about what you did… aww… I wish you could have done that to me to, but harder.]

Silva said.

Keagan resisted the urge to puke as he typed.

[What do you mean by pets?]

Keagan asked.

[You know, play things. Which is weird since he has a beautiful wife, but what do I know?]

Silva asked.

Useless bitch. Keagan cursed internally.

[I see.]

Keagan typed before dropping his phone.

He sighed deeply as he pondered.

Keagan grabbed his phone again. He wanted to ask Silva to help with the Andre situation, but she seemed rather useless.

Ah ha! Amanda Palmer. Keagan thought in a moment of triumph.

She was a journalist.

Maybe she would be of use. But Keagan realized that, to her, he was basically a stranger.

What he needed was time.

Time to prepare for the conference which was nine days away. He also needed time to help Mercy.

He needed time to be with Roy to help him grieve.

Keagan let out a low rubble as he growled.

This, unfortunately, woke Mercy up.

“Mmm?” She made a soft noise.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“I just contacted someone I thought could help, but it turns out she was useless.” Keagan said, shaking Roy awake.

“Mmm?” Roy sounded.

“Don’t worry, bud. I’ve just got some calls to make.” Keagan said with a sigh.

“I see. What time is it?” Roy asked.

“One.” Keagan said while rubbing his eyes.

“Let’s sleep.” Keagan said as he rested his head against the couch.

His mind was already far too numb for sleep to elude him. His body needed it.

.

..

The next day came early.

Keagan, Mercy and Roy all prepared for work.

Mercy would have to go to her house for a change of clothes and so they went their separate ways upon reaching Ix Chel.

Keagan and Roy made it to work.

The day wore away and it wasn’t long before lunch time.

Keagan walked over to the emergency staircase and dialed a certain number.

[Hello?]

A familiar, low, feminine voice asked.

“Hey, uh- it’s Keagan. Keagan Keita.” Keagan said while trying to surpass his nervousness.

[I know it’s you. I’m just wondering why you decided to call.]

Amanda said.

“Mmm… I’m-" Keagan stopped himself from asking for help in a desperate and rather pathetic manner.

“I was just wondering how you were doing. That’s all.” Keagan said with an awkward chuckle.

[Mmm… is there something specific you want to talk about?]

She asked.

“Nah, not really. I- Err-“ Keagan struggled to formulate words as he paced around the staircase.

[Would you prefer it if we spoke in person?]

Amanda asked.

“Yeah, hehe. That would be great. If your schedule allows it, of course." Keagan said in a manner that was unbecoming of him, but what choice did he have?

[Ok. How about we meet up tomorrow in the evening. You seem a bit distressed, so I think my home should be suitable for a little heart to heart.]

Amanda said, but with the tone of her voice, it sounded more like she was singing.

“Ok.” Keagan said before ending the call. He then returned to his desk and worked the day away.

.

..

Keagan zombie walked out of the Lezzaro building, alongside Roy.

They made their way back to Cynosure, with Keagan paying for their trip and they both plopped onto Keagan’s bed.

Keagan whipped out his phone and texted Mercy.

[Hey. You ok?]

He asked.

[Yeah, I just made it back home. Andre hasn’t texted me yet. I’ll let you know if that changes.]

Mercy said.

[Ok.]

Keagan typed before closing his eyes and sleeping.

.

..

Keagan was awoken by a knock on the door. He checked the time and saw that it was five AM.

Keagan stumbled his way towards the door. He slowly opened the door to find a flustered Karisa.

Keagan closed the door and sighed. He opened it again before letting her in.

“What do you want?” He asked.

“Well… it’s been a while since we spent time together… so, I was wondering if… you know.” Karisa mumbled.

Keagan wanted to kick her out, but he couldn’t.

“Bathroom.” Keagan ordered as he made his way to the aforementioned room.

There, he undressed as Karisa watched.

He then walked over to her and placed his hand on her cheek.

“Your dad is an asshole, you know that?” Keagan asked.

Karisa’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“He’s being cruel to one of my friends and I really want to stop him, but alas, I am only human.” Keagan said as he walked into the shower.

Karisa was wearing a rather cute blue dress and a big black jacket.

Keagan cleaned himself as violent thoughts danced in his mind.

Keagan eventually got out of the shower, dried himself, got dressed and led Karisa out of the bathroom only for them to meet a semi conscious Roy.

“Heh?” Roy sounded.

Keagan ignored him as he made himself some breakfast.

Karisa stood by the couch as she waited for Keagan’s orders.

She paid absolutely no mind to the befuddled Roy standing next to her.

Roy sighed before joining Keagan in the kitchen.

“Should I even ask?” Roy asked as Keagan served two cups of coffee, much to Roy’s dismay.

“She wants to hang out with me, but I have stuff to do.” Keagan said.

“Oh? Why do I get the feeling that your ‘hanging out' would be best performed without a certain Roy Deacon?” Roy asked playfully.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re not going to do ‘that’.” Keagan said before making his way to the couch.

Roy joined him before noticing something.

“When did you get a watch and why is it already broken?” Roy asked.

“Dan gave it to me.” Keagan said.

“Oh?” Roy said before noticing that Karisa wasn’t sitting with them. He also noticed that she looked like she had no desire to join them. Well, that was the case until-

“Sit down.” Keagan said with a sigh. Roy’s eyes widened as Karisa’s face showed an expression he’d rarely seen in anyone in a while.

Joy.

She sat on the couch happily before staring at Keagan silently.

Keagan ignored her as the minutes ticked by.

Roy decided to give up on solving what the deal between Keagan and Karisa was. He hopped into the shower and it wasn’t long before he and Roy were on their way to work.

Yep, Keagan had completely abandoned Karisa back at the apartment.

The working day’s hours crawled by and it wasn’t long before Keagan was on his way to Cynosure. He eventually made it to Dan’s place. He softly knocked on the door and it wasn’t long before Amanda opened the door.

“Good afternoon." Keagan greeted.

“Hello, Keagan.” Amanda said before leading Keagan into the living room where they sat next to each other.

Keagan had hoped that she would sit a little further away, but he quickly abandoned that hope.

“So, what’s bothering you?” Amanda asked. Her brown hair was sharply enhanced in besuty by the afternoon sun.

“How- what-“ Keagan stumbled over himself. He had prepared a list of questions he wanted the answers to, but his brain was fizzling down to nothing.

He wanted to ask about what she knew about the Astali family and he wondered if she had any contacts who could get dirt on Andre, but that was quickly ruled out by the fact that if such dirt existed, Andre wouldn’t be the head of Lezzaro.

“I’m sorry, it must be strange seeing a stranger falling apart in your home, hehe.” Keagan said in a desperate attempt to rid himself of his nervousness.

“Its ok. Honestly, when you came by the other day, I was intrigued by the way you interacted with Dan. It was nice.” Amanda said with a deep smile.

Keagan narrowed his eyes as his heart rate slowed down.

He sighed.

“Yeah… but I must say, he is an invasive one." Keagan lied.

If he was going to get her to talk about the Astali’s, he’d need to get her to lower her obviously raised guard.

“You know, when we first met, he totally invaded my personal space. Then he forced me to go out drinking with him.” Keagan said while pretending to be crestfallen.

Amanda chuckled slightly.

“Yep, that sounds just like him. What else? Tell me what he’s like when you’re alone.” Amanda asked.

“Mmm? Well… he’s surprising easy going. I expected him to be a cold lifeless person when I presented my work to him, but the more I talked to him, the more chaotic and… fun he became.” Keagan said with a smile.

His facial muscles cried as that was the hardest smile to ever smile, but he pulled it off.

“I see.” Amanda said with a sigh.

“Ok, now tell me more about yourself.” Amanda said.

Keagan took a deep breath before summarizing his life.

.

..

“Wow! That’s actually quite impressive.” Amanda said.

Night had already fallen and Keagan’s throat felt rather dry.

“All this talking has gotten me quite thirsty. May I have some water?” Keagan asked.

“Oh my! I was so enamored by your story that I completely forgot my manners.” Amanda said as she hopped off the couch.

“I’ll only be away for a moment.” Amanda said before leaving the room.

Keagan whipped out his phone and checked the time. It was just past seven.

Keagan wondered where Dan was, but that thought was interrupted by Amanda’s reappearance.

She had a tray full of all manner of snacks and a cup of water.

“Here. I’m sorry, but all I could find was a few snacks. It’s just that your story has robbed me of my focus.” Amanda said prompting Keagan to narrow his eyes.

Amanda said next to him before handing him the single cup of water.

“Are you not going to have some?” Keagan asked while narrowing his eyes.

“I drank some on my trip to the fridge.” Amanda said with a smile.

Keagan took a sip of the cool fresh water. His chest suddenly felt warmer. He couldn’t wrap his head around it, but he felt at ease all of a sudden.

Keagan took another sip of water and the feeling intensified.

“Now, we may have swayed from our original path, but I remember that you had something to tell me.” Amanda asked.

“Yeah, I did.” Keagan said as his eyes narrowed even further.

“Does it have something to do with the Astali’s?” Amanda asked prompting Keagan to widen his eyes completely.