It was no longer raining, but clouds still lingered in the sky outside and the air was crisp with the smell that comes just after rain. It was a very nice day, in terms of weather anyway.

“Nice day.” Krit said, voicing my thoughts.

“Yeah.” I agreed, inhaling deeply.

“So, what’s with you and Alec?”

I glanced at Krit, then away before replying.

“Nothing I want to get into. We just keep running into each other and having some intense clashes.” I shook my head, “He’s an ass.”

Krit laughed. I glared at him. I could be made at Alec, but he could not laugh at him. He seemed to sense my anger because he raised his hands in surrender.

“No, no. It’s just...that’s how Max described him, too.”

My anger disappeared and I smiled in amusement.

“And what about you and Syl?” I asked in return.

“Syl? She’s my best friend and has been since before I can remember. We were always partners back at Manticore. We got split up after we escaped, Zack thought it would be best. But I had to find her. It took two years, but I tracked her down. Turned out, she’d been looking for me, too, which is probably the only reason I found her. Zack tried to split us up after that, but we made a promise to stick together. She’s got my back, I’ve got hers. Even if she is a dumb blonde.” he grinned, then looked quickly over his shoulder like he was afraid that Syl might have appeared just in time to hear his comment.

I laughed at him.

“What?” he asked defensively, “You’d be surprised how many times she’s done that.”

He smiled at me again and I noticed that while he may bear a striking resemblance to Max, the features worked just as well on him as they did on her.

“They never told us what happened to make you all escape. There had to have been a reason. All they told us was that you were rats, traitors.” I said.

“They just pushed us too hard.” Krit replied, his face getting a look that told me he was drifting back into his memories, “And when they found that some of us were having seizures, it got worse. They took Jack away and killed him, cutting up his body. Maxie saw it. And then, Maxie got the shakes. We all loved Maxie, but no one more than Zack and Eva. They attacked the tac leaders when they tried to take her away and Eva took one of their guns. That’s when Zack decided it was time to blow that joint. Eva took the lead with the gun..., but we ran into Lydecker. He shot her right in front of us. We had to get out of there.”

I absorbed his story in silence, letting him come out of his memories in his own time. Not knowing what else to say, I offered a pathetic apology.

“I’m sorry.”

The words felt insubstantial and stupid. It wasn’t like my feeling sorry for him would change anything. It wasn’t even like what had happened to his unit had been out of the ordinary at Manticore. People disappearing at Manticore was the norm.

“Don’t say that.” Krit said, looking very upset, “At least we got out. We got away before Manticore could dish out anymore. The rest of you guys got the worst of it. The rest of you who were there for nineteen years. No, we were the lucky ones.”

My respect for Krit instantly increased.

“What made you leave?”

For some reason the question made me defensive.

“Just didn’t fit in, you know? Couldn’t take all the crap anymore. So, I thought I’d split and take my best friend with me.” I shrugged, like it didn’t matter.

Krit gave me a look that said he wasn’t buying it, but thankfully he didn’t push it.

“I’m new around here. Where’s the happening place to be?” he asked, rolling his eyes at himself as he said ‘happening.’

I smiled, more at the fact that he was letting me get away with my insouciant facade than at his words.

“Well, there is a bar with some pool tables and a TV that doesn’t play news.” I offered.

“Perfect.” Krit agreed.

I led him towards the bar, surprised when he took my hand in his and tangled his fingers with mine. And for some reason, I didn’t take it away from him. It occurred to me that Alec had never really held my hand. Thinking back, I couldn’t remember anyone ever holding my hand except for once or twice on missions or in training and that didn’t really count.

We entered the bar and I noticed that it was rather quiet. There were a handful of transgenics inside getting wasted, probably trying to make themselves forget the hell that was coming when CAT tried to invade. But there was no celebrating, no cheerfulness, no fun. The whole place felt depressed and, unlike I’d promised, the solitary television was in fact playing the news.

“Did someone run over everybody’s dog?” Krit asked in a whisper.

I shook my head.

“No one’s too excited about White and some gung ho military team trying to bring the fight to us.” I explained.

“Right. That CAT thing. Syl and I saw that yesterday before we got busted. Who names those things anyway?”

I looked at him curiously, wondering why he wasn’t acting at all worried.

“Why aren’t I worried?” he asked, correctly interpreting my look, “I am. But, come on. Sulking around while we wait is going to change anything. So let’s play some pool and worry about those idiots with guns when they get here.”

“And what about being prepared?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“Syl and I, we’re more spur of the moment type of people. Zack’s the one who does the planning.”

Krit’s voice faltered after he said ‘Zack’ and the rest of his sentence trailed into silence. He looked at the floor and shuffled his feet.

“You know, he was captured when we blew the genetics lab and we thought...we thought he was dead. Zack would never let them take him alive. But Maxie told us that he’s not dead, that she saw him. They used some kind of cyborg technology stuff to fix him. Only problem is he had amnesia and when he remembered who he was, their brainwashing kicked in and he turned into assassin boy. So Max had to wipe his memory and give him a new life where he doesn’t know he’s a transgenic. I was blown away by the story, but the weirdest part is that I still feel like I’ve lost him. He may be alive, but I’ve still lost my big brother, my C.O..”

I was shocked into silence. I hadn’t known that Manticore was experimenting with robotic technology. Of course, with Manticore anything was possible.

“But he’s free.” I pointed out, “He doesn’t have to hide anymore. He doesn’t have to run. He can live a normal life. Isn’t that what we all want anyway?”

Krit smiled a little, but his eyes still looked sad.

“I guess.”

I grabbed the two pool cues and threw one to Krit. I leaned on the other one so that I could take some weight off of my leg for awhile.

“Remember, sulking one change anything. Let’s play.” I said.

Krit almost visibly stuffed his pain down inside and smiled.

“Okay, but I get to break.” he said.

I shrugged and gestured at the pool table, telling him to go right ahead. Krit leaned across the table and expertly broke, sinking three balls right away. I raised an eyebrow. He was good.

“I’ve had a lot of practice at this game.” Krit explained, “It’s Syl’s favorite. She makes hustling almost an art when it comes to pool. I’ve gotten used to losing. This will be a nice change of pace. Side pocket.”

“Don’t be so sure.” I replied, watching as he sunk another ball easily.

Krit grinned, but didn’t take his eyes off the table.

“Far right corner.” Krit said.

I looked carefully at his shot.

“Don’t you mean side pocket?” I asked.

The shot was obvious, but Krit shook his head. I shrugged and watched. The ball bounced off the corner of the side pocket and rebounded into the far right corner.

“Nice.” I commented.

“Thanks. This pocket,” he tapped the pocket in front of him before rebounding a ball off the opposite end of the table so that it came back and sank into the pocket perfectly, “I hope you didn’t want to play.”

I smirked in reply, stepping back to that Krit could line up his next shot. As he was shooting, I used my pool cue to hit him in the back of the knee, causing him to sink on one side. Looking over his shoulder, I say his ball bounce off the side, missing the pocket. He glared at me and I tried to look innocent.

“My turn?”

I moved to the other side of the table from him, limping only slightly, and quickly lined up my shot.

“Corner.” I said and sunk it.

“You play like Syl.” Krit complained.

“Good, then you’re used to it. Left corner.” I said simply, sinking a second ball.

Krit rolled his eyes and leaned against the table, watching me play. I sunk three more shots before he spoke again.

“We’re almost tied.” he commented, “I was hoping you’d get distracted and miss by now.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” I said, narrowing my eyes as I prepared to tie the game, “Right corner pocket.”

“Alec! I can’t believe you’re up!” Krit yelled suddenly.

I knew he was lying, but I had to look. Of course, Alec wasn’t there. I turned back to my shot, but as I did Krit bumped into me. My arm slipped and tapped the white ball. It rolled about an inch and stopped.

“Oops.” Krit said sweetly.

“You suck.” I grumbled.

Krit just smiled as he finished the game. His smile turned apologetic as he looked up at me after sinking the eight ball.

“Buy you a drink?” he offered.

“Peace offering?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Alright then. I’ll have whatever you have.”

Krit nodded and went to the bar. I mused that Krit was easy to get along with. Kira would like him.

Krit returned and pressed a glass into my hand. I downed the contents quickly, recognizing it as tequila. It was the same drink I had ordered when I’d run into Alec four days before. Guilt arose in me as I thought of Alec. Sure, he’d been a jerk the way he’d been flirting with Syl when I’d been distracted by Krit’s stream of questions. But he was still injured and I still cared about him. I should check on him.

“I should check on Alec.” I voiced to Krit.

Krit shrugged and returned our glasses to the bar. He returned to my side and took my arm, helping me back towards the infirmary. I was glad of his assistance, since my leg was really starting to hurt again, but more than that I was glad that he hadn’t made me ask for his help. I tried to silently voice my thanks at him. He nodded back, so I assumed he understood.

“It’s been nice talking to you, Krit.” I said as we got nearer to the infirmary.

“You, too, Jess. Hope we can hang out some more when you’re leg’s better.” he said, stopping just outside the door to the infirmary.

“Sure. Why not?” I shrugged.

Suddenly, to my utmost astonishment, Krit kissed me. It only lasted a second, but I was thoroughly shocked for much longer than that.