Bren looks quickly at the only exit available, the bedroom window. He wrestles with the old window and tries to open it and not be heard.  Footsteps approach, but he has only gotten the window half open. He turns his body and braces himself as he slams his left arm into the glass. The window shatters and pieces fall to the ground. He throws the duvet off Jax’s bed over the remaining exposed fragments. He hears running and without a second thought he dives out the window onto the rusty fire escape. He quickly climbs down to the ground and takes off running. He doesn’t look back as he runs around the building and jumps in his car. He looks back only to see if the men have spotted him, but it doesn’t look like they have made it out of the apartment yet. He calls Fuchsia and lets her know that there were people looking for Jax and that he was going to be sure he wasn’t being followed before heading back to his apartment. 

***

He slowly pulls into the lot and cuts the engine off. He looks to make sure he doesn’t see anyone suspicious around and then he grabs the bag out of the passenger seat and heads for his door.

Sina opens the door for him before he even has a chance to knock. Her eyes are full of concern as he enters. He pushes past her as he heads to see if Jax is awake. He reaches his bedroom door and sees Fuchsia and Jax talking. Their voices are low and everything seems calm. He returns to the living room where Fuchsia is sitting. Sina has her computer out and she is typing. Her hands move at an unnatural speed. 

Bren sits down beside her trying to see what she is doing. 

Sina stops typing and flexes her hands. He knows better than to bother her while she works. Her titanium alloy hands are hidden beneath her gloves, but he knows that she has no patience for his curiosity and he has no wish to upset her. 

Sina without making eye contact says, “I am trying to relocate us and cover our trail. I need to get this done so give me some space Bren.” Her fingers hit the keyboard and then she sighs and says, “You need to to pack some stuff, take anything that is important with you.” 

Sina brushes across her chest, her heart beats aggressively as she feels the weight of the situation. She needs to make sure that she doesn’t forget anything, even the tiniest of missed details could be deadly. Now that Jax was awake and Bren was back they needed to get moving as quickly as possible. 

***

Bren picks up the bag of Jax’s stuff and walks back towards the bedroom to see Fuchsia standing up and patting Jax on the shoulder. She turns around and walks towards him. She motions him towards the living room. “I will be there in a second,” he mouths while walking into the room with Jax. Jax looks like he has a hangover from the sedative, or Blue Cryo, maybe both. His eyes look glazed and confused as he stares out the window. Bren kneels in front of Jax in order to get his attention and says, “I went by your apartment and got clothes, your charger, and some other items for you.” He lifts his arm holding the bag to place it on the bed when Jax dives forward and hugs him. Jax’s eyes fill with tears but they seem to stay contained like frozen pools of water. 

Bren, shocked by the hug, drops the bag. His hands remain outstretched unsure what to do. Jax buries his head in Brens' jacket  and says, “I heard Fuchsia talking to you on the phone. I was so afraid something had happened to you Bren.”  

Bren lets out his breath and closes his arms around Jax realizing it is going to be impossible to deny his feelings for him. He pulls back and looks into Jax’s eyes and runs his fingers across Jax’s now dampened cheeks. 

Bren says, “I need to go talk to Fuchsia, you can get a shower and change if you want.” 

He stands up and walks out of the room.

Fuchsia is standing in the kitchen messing with her phone and looking worried. 

After a minute unnoticed, he clears his throat to get her attention. 

She looks up and tells him to have a seat so they can talk. 

Fuchsia rubs the table with her fingertips as she says, “I talked to Jax about what happened when he went to make the delivery yesterday. He apparently walked right into Creso’s hands making that delivery. Creso definitely recognized him and called him Liam. It is a miracle he was able to escape.”

Bren says, “So I guess that we can assume that the people at his apartment were with Creso.”

Fuchsia covers her face with her hands and says, “Yes”.

 She lifts her head and looks at Sina and says, “It is only a matter of time before they find us. That is why Sina is trying to buy us some time. We have to disappear at least long enough for me to work on Jax’s implant and make a plan.”

Bren says, “Hopefully, we will be safe tonight. Tomorrow we can meet early and leave.”

Fuchsia nods in agreement. “We are going to leave soon and go home and pack. Hopefully we can get some sleep before tomorrow.”

Bren looks towards the bathroom. Hearing the shower still running he decides to go check on Jax.

***

Jax feels like his brain is in a fog.

He plugs his phone up and takes the bag to the bathroom with him. He turns on the warm water and looks at himself in the mirror. He feels disconnected; he knows about his past, but it feels like it belongs to someone else. He undresses and gets in the shower turning the temperature all the way up. It’s a nice distraction from his thoughts, at least most of them. He loses track of time but is pulled back to reality by a knock at the door. 

Bren asks him if he is ok and he responds by turning the water off. He gets dressed and opens the door releasing the cloud of steam that had been trapped in the bathroom. He can see Fuchsia and Bren talking and Sina is packing up her computer. They look like they are leaving. 

Fuchsia sees Jax standing in the hall and says, “Hun we are going home to get some sleep but we will be back early in the morning.” She walks over to him and gently hugs him. Sina heads to the door seemingly engrossed in her thoughts. They leave and Bren locks the door.

Jax stands motionless in the hallway like he doesn’t know what to do. Bren looks at Jax for a moment before he finally walks down the hall. He reaches out and takes Jax’s hand and pulls him back to the bedroom.