“Come on. You’re telling me you could take him down. Him?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“But he’s twice your size.”

Charmian smiled as she took a small sip from her beer. It never failed. Every time her martial arts expertise came up people started asking her who she could beat up. It would start off reasonable, but as she confirmed her capability an ever more outlandish series of hypothetical scenarios would ensue. This one involved Justin’s biggest and burliest bodyguard.

It was relatively tame actually - her new neighbour had asked if she could win a fight against Jackie Chan.

“Which can be used against him. That’s the whole thing; you’re not learning how to hit harder, it’s about how to play it smart and use your opponent’s own movement against them. Once you know that it pretty much becomes just reading what they do, and when somebody’s big like that their own momentum’s got a lot of force behind it anyway. It’s not just about brute strength, otherwise I’d be screwed.”

Trace smirked and scratched at the nape of his neck. “Damn. You can’t be much taller than five seven and you can even theoretically take out a guy that big? Remind me never to piss you off.”

He propped a foot up on the seat in front of him before crossing the other one over it. They were settled into the VIP box waiting for the opening night of Justin’s latest tour to kick off. His mother was due to join them any minute.

“So how long before you’re officially allowed to teach?” He asked.

Trace had been introduced to Charmian by Justin about a month ago, and was getting to know her. They were still in the small talk phase of their acquaintance, but he liked her. He was still nowhere near figuring the woman out but she’d been nothing but pleasant.

Despite the friendliness she’d been intimidating at first. Justin knew a lot of famous, powerful and good looking women so he shouldn’t have been fazed - even so she was still something else. She was drop dead beautiful, but that wasn’t so noteworthy in Hollywood. The thing that struck so hard was an air of knowing something everybody else didn’t. There was something sharp and piercing behind her eyes that took some adjusting to, a quiet yet fierce intelligence that peered right through you. It was subtle but it was there. Even without the apparent flair for kicking ass he wouldn’t have wanted to mess with her.

Alcohol was however the great social equaliser; after a couple of boozy nights out with the gang he’d come to decide that Charmian was alright really. There was something about seeing someone unable to walk in a straight line that brought them back down to Earth. The more Trace chatted to her the more he saw her less serious side and the more approachable she seemed. Even so, it was still early-ish days and he tended to stick to safe topics like her career and the weather.

“Believe it or not I could technically be doing it now, there isn’t really any regulation for it - which I couldn’t friggin’ believe when there’re weapons involved in some of these disciplines.” Charmian shook her head and her nose screwed up in distaste. It struck her as kind of irresponsible.

“Seriously? You can just start any old time with teaching folks to smack each other up?” He chuckled.

“Yep. Realistically people expect you to be a black belt and have the insurance, but when I looked around it seemed like the really decent dojos still actually look for you to have some kind of coaching qualification. It’s a three month course so I should be done in about another month or so.”

“Then you’ll open up your own?”

“That’s the goal eventually, but I’m so not ready to run my own business. I put out some feelers at the place where I’ve been training and the owner’s said he’ll trial me so long as I get the certificates first.”

“So what were you doing before?” Trace asked.

It didn’t matter how many times she drilled herself with the lie, she had to hesitate a second before she could come out with it. It was strange that it wasn’t easier – as an avenger she had constantly had to lie about her background to unsuspecting mortals. The trouble was that she’d never had to keep it up for long before. They served their purpose and then moved along, never staying in any mortal’s life. This lie was different. This lie she would have to keep up until the end of her days and apparently humans had far less control over their mouths than avengers. She’d too often found herself starting to tell the truth before she’d registered what she was saying. The pause had become a necessary safeguard; thinking before speaking had never been so crucial.

“Nothing special, office administrator. Just working solely for the pay check and totally bored.”

“But martial arts are more your thing?”

“All my life.” That at least was true. “Don’t know why I didn’t consider this sooner.”

It seemed like a no brainer now but at the time she’d been too busy stressing about it. The first big human challenge she’d had was the need for a job – not solely for money, but also for some kind of purpose and structure to her day.

For about a fortnight or so it had been novel to have no mission to follow and no plans to make. It hadn’t taken long to wear off. There was only so much TV you could watch. There were only so many art galleries you could visit. (On the bright side, she’d learned that the 15th century portrait of her by one of Michelangelo’s apprentices had in fact survived – it had been part of a temporary exhibit, on loan from some private collection). It was lucky that Lucas had always been one for asset building – he argued it was necessary cover to be able to pay for things normally and without working magic. As a result of his influence she had a nest egg; it gave her the luxury of time to work out her vocation rather than scrambling for any job she could get.

Although the avengers had since moved onto their next operation (somewhere in Sweden apparently) Lucas was in frequent contact. Ostensibly it was for tactical advice but she suspected it was really a way to stay in touch. Of course he would never say as much, but she felt the effort he was making to maintain their friendship. They’d been together every day for centuries; it was weird not being in each other’s pockets any more. It was for the best however. She had to resist the urge to dwell in the past and cling to a group she could never again belong to in the same way, but it didn’t stop her missing them. Still, the joint power share with Alexander seemed to be settling into some kind of rhythm so she felt no guilt about not going back.

It had in fact been Lucas who suggested that she look into martial arts instruction. She had been complaining that she was trained in nothing and had no skills. Lucas’s response was to snort and ask what she thought she’d been doing for the last thousand years. At first she had balked, saying she wanted a change and the whole point was to turn her back on her previous life. The idea had stuck with her though and she had resumed her training (human bodies needed exercise anyway). Without the pressure of a sacred mission attached she found that she simply enjoyed it, enjoyed the feeling of flexing those muscles. She could teach, she could compete - it gave her an ambition and something to work towards.

It also served as a distraction from the trauma of trying to create a new life from scratch. Rewards from on high apparently came with an impressively manufactured identity and social security number but no guidance on the big questions. She was also trying to find out how she fit into Justin’s world even as she created her own and it was deeply confusing.

Justin had been gracious about being there as the only human she could speak freely to; he’d been sort of an adjustment coach.  Even so she had been wary of building her new path directly around him. For one thing she had no idea where they stood, but the greater principle was that she needed to be her own person. She hadn’t given up immortality to waste her limited remaining years on co-dependence and living somebody else’s life. There had been great pains taken to try and explore the world outside of his orbit, even on days when she’d really have preferred the safety net of his company. Using him as a crutch was comforting but not smart.

That was why she had delayed in meeting any of his circle for so long (though from his reaction she thought he’d been relieved, as if he was equally unready). Tentatively she had started making friends with people around her – her neighbours at the new apartment, people at the dojo – but still the whole question of them hung heavy in the air. It was just hanging there all the time, more so now that he had started segueing her into his daily goings on. Charmian hadn’t asked, he’d simply started inviting her to things one day and she had accepted without comment. It turned out that his friends were nice people - Trace was a lot of fun, now they had finally been introduced.  

Maybe the introduction meant something or maybe it didn’t, who could work it out? Whenever they were together there was something sitting on the end of her tongue that she was hesitant to voice. Justin hadn’t made any moves, neither had she, and he wasn’t offering any clues about his thoughts. Their last night in the cabin hadn’t been discussed since.

Tonight she was nervous about that. For one thing she was about to meet his mother. For another, she was about to experience what Justin did for the first time. Over the many lifetimes she had read his poems, seen his drawings, and now heard his music, but she’d never seen him working at the height of his powers and success. Although she’d mastered controlling her feelings at this stage, she was still afraid she was going to get emotional and not be able to explain why.

Hopefully nobody had noticed that she was desperately in love with the guy yet but crying over him singing might be a giveaway.

“That’s cool,” Trace replied before taking another long swig of his beer. “So are you with us after the show? We were just thinking a few drinks, don’t think it’ll be too late.”

“Umm… yeah, I’m not starting too early tomorrow so as long as it’s not a heavy one I could swing it.” She tried to keep her smile toned down and not too obvious. Sometimes she found herself a little too eager to put herself in Justin’s path – as if sheer proximity might eventually drive him to address the issue – and she had to rein herself in.

It was embarrassing, she was quite literally ancient and yet she felt like a teenage girl around him sometimes.

**

It was a beautiful night. The sky was a deliciously inky black, though the stars were masked by the usual city smog. The temperature was perfect, warm enough but with a small bite of cool that was refreshing. That was probably why Charmian had dawdled so much longer than necessary outside. She hadn’t meant to but the after party was raucous and the hotel hadn’t opened nearly enough windows. She’d needed the oxygen. As the perspiration had started drying from her skin she felt that little bit less self-conscious; even a silly thing like sweating took getting used to. It was a good thing she was wearing black.

The party was still raging in the bar and though it was anti-social of her she continued to lurk on the patio. Her now empty wine glass was discarded on one of the tables. She had a view of the entire hotel garden and deserted pool, the air was crisp and she was contentedly musing. It had been a nice evening all round and a little breather to smell the roses was in order (figuratively anyway, she didn’t see any actual rose bushes around). It was kind of crazy to think that this was her existence now. Not so long ago she’d have been glued to the inside of the room, scanning over the crowd for demons and trouble. It was nice to know it wasn’t her problem.

She tried not to think too hard about that, given what a target she was. It only made her head hurt and she’d already decided it wasn’t her worry any more. She knew full well that Alex and Lucas had probably left a detail on her even though she’d insisted she’d be fine. Besides, nothing had happened so far – might be they’d simply decided that she had little value other than bragging rights.

“Well check you out.”

The drawl sounded from behind her, and Charmian twisted her head round to see the intruder. It wasn’t necessary; she knew the voice well enough by now.

“Why? What am I doing worth checking out?”

Justin smirked at her sincerity as he crossed the patio to her side. Leaning against the balcony wall, his arm brushed hers as he drummed his fingertips against the stone. A bottle of beer hung neglected from his other hand.

It was the first time he’d talked to her all night. It was a hazard of being the headliner; you couldn’t walk across a room without various people interrupting you. He wasn’t complaining but it did make getting promptly where you were going a bit of a luxury. Frequently he headed for the bathroom at least ten minutes before he really needed to use it. He’d seen her disappear outside earlier and had meant to join her as much for some fresh air as to say hello, but it had taken a while to make it to the door.

“It’s just an expression. You’re cute when you’re not down with the lingo.”

“Ass.”

She poked him in the ribs before resuming her previous activity, which was staring out across the garden.  Some of the lingo did puzzle her sometimes, though she wouldn’t admit that to him. He enjoyed teasing her about it too much. It wasn’t like the avengers were still running around speaking medieval English but she hadn’t appreciated how much slang she’d managed to miss in all their moving around. Most of it was pretty self-explanatory but the odd phrase still got her here and there.

“Having fun?” He asked as he followed her gaze. She’d seemed enraptured but he couldn’t work out what she’d been focused on. There were a few shadowy shapes, likely bushes and topiary, but that was about it.

“Yeah. Just came out to cool off for a second.” Charmian turned and pulled herself up to sit on the wall. “You?”

“Same. So…” His long fingers started picking at the label on the bottle. His eyes fell upon her stiletto clad feet, poking out from beneath her jeans and swinging back and forth. “What did you think of the show?”

“Well clearly the crowd thought you sucked. You could tell from all the screaming.”

“Heh.” His lips stretched out, revealing white teeth beneath the dry smile. “Is it so hard to say you liked it?”

Damn it. She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice that deflection. It was almost a given that his mother had noticed her not-surreptitious-enough dabbing at her eyes but whether she’d mentioned it to her son was anybody’s guess. Perhaps she was giving herself too much credit but she felt like in a lot of ways she’d helped make it possible for him to go out and achieve that for himself. Pride had swelled up and then so had a little bit of frustration. Charmian had no desire to let any more of it slip out to his face.

“I don’t like to overinflate your ego. But yes, I liked it.”

“Good.” His fingers played with the bottle and she tried not to pay too much attention. “I’m glad you made it along.”

Justin breathed in a shot of cool air, letting his comment sit. It was nice to be out where it was fresh, the party was great but the room was stifling. He was a social animal but sometimes even he craved some quieter company. Hanging out in silence with her was easier than might be expected; he didn’t feel any impetus to talk. There was less than an inch between them but the proximity wasn’t uncomfortable.

Charmian had in general proved much quieter company than he’d expected her to be. Her resurrection had been shocker enough, but the surprises kept on coming. You might have assumed that she would be a commanding force even as a human, but as it turned out she was content to keep to herself. In some ways he supposed that might be logical; maybe she was over being the leader. Maybe being more solitary as opposed to constantly in a team and having to be the one with the answers was a little slice of freedom.

In some ways it made it easier to relate to her, in other ways harder. Being the most powerful individual in the room and the one everybody looked at was something he was used to. Throughout their previous acquaintance those roles had been reversed – the avengers certainly didn’t give a shit who he was outside of their mission. That had been unsettling and perhaps a little humbling for him. He’d struggled to work out how to be the one who sat back and followed. Just as he’d come to grips with it she’d now withdrawn and was being far more pliable, even a little aloof. Neither was necessarily better or worse than the other, it just took some grappling with.

Charmian in all her worldly wisdom was doing exactly the right thing and establishing her own independence. That was all very well, but sometimes he selfishly wished she would stay where he wanted her until he figured it all out for himself. The equilibrium was elusive - or maybe she just liked to keep him on his toes. Either way he’d been treading very carefully, trying to work out where he stood and what was really there without the life or death destiny situation complicating matters. It had been a process - that was for sure.

“So when do you head out?” She asked.

“Day after tomorrow. Next show’s here tomorrow night.” His hand went to his pocket and briefly his fingers found the pack of cigarettes he’d intended to open, but he decided against it. 

“And you’re gone for two months?”

“Yes, for the first leg.” Justin looked down at his feet, and hesitated briefly before speaking again. “I would’ve invited you to come with but I guess you’ll still have classes?”

Charmian was a little taken aback. It had never occurred to her that he’d consider it. Then again, she certainly couldn’t claim much insight into his thinking lately. The straightforward thing would have been to simply ask, but myriad voices in her brain had halted that plan. There seemed far too many ways it could go wrong or make her look stupid.

This was the frustrating thing about humanity. The decisiveness and self-assurance she’d enjoyed for so many centuries hadn’t magically evaporated, it was far too ingrained for that, but even so she did second guess herself an awful lot more than she used to.

“Yeah. Sorry I’ll miss it.”

“That’s the breaks.” If he was at all deflated by the refusal he didn’t display any sign of it, nonchalance reigned.

“Yeah.” She pressed on, eager to not to let him think she was making excuses. “But it would’ve been nice to hang out with you some more. I know we’ve both been busy but… you know, maybe the crowd thought you sucked but I’d really like to see the show again.”

Justin could tell the weak joke was a bit of a cop out on her part. It bolstered him despite that and drove him to take the plunge. Even if her praise wasn’t effusive he could still tell that she’d rated the performance and her approval meant something to him.

“Look, can I be honest?”

“People who’ve patched me up after I’ve bled out all over them are allowed to be honest. It’s a battlefield thing.” Once again she was wise cracking because she was getting overwhelmed, she noticed.

“I’ve been kind of taking my time because I know you’ve had a lot to adjust to, and so have I, but actually I would just like it if you were around more. Like, you could be around a whole lot more and that wouldn’t bother me. I know that right before I go off for several weeks is probably poor timing for that conclusion, but… I don’t know. I get that you’re trying to work your own thing out and I totally support that, but I don’t want us falling by the wayside. You took a knife for me; it’d be pretty fucked up if I didn’t look out for you.”

And just what did he mean by ‘us,’ she wondered. She breathed in for a moment, letting a thought run through her mind. The voices were doing some more whispering about potential backfire but she pushed them away. Fortune favoured the bold, right? If she could deal with failed missions that cost several hundred lives then she could deal with a little rejection. It couldn’t be that bad, right? If she just casually dangled a possibility? He could take or leave it and she could play it off if he left it. If he meant what he’d said then that seemed like the best opening she was likely to get for a while.

“I could probably make your European leg though, that’s another three or so weeks later right? Assuming I don’t flunk out and have to retake, anyway.”

It might delay her future employment a bit but she had money. Losing immortality brought a keen awareness that life was too short to be too responsible.

Justin tried not to appear so eager for that life line. “Yeah, like you’re going to flunk out when you were learning that shit before their great great great whatever grandfathers were crawling. I’ll take that as confirmation to book your ticket.”

Charmian for her part was trying not to appear too relieved. Inviting herself onto an international trip with him would have been mightily embarrassing if he’d turned her down.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“I’m glad.” It came out before he had time to think about it; it was hard to know how to follow it up smoothly. “I, uhh… yeah. Should be a good time.”

Was he nervous? Suddenly he looked a touch flustered, and she had to bite her lower lip to stop from smiling. It was comforting to not be the only one. It was also incredibly nice to be making future plans with him without worrying about whether he’d survive long enough to greet that date.

“What you grinning at?”

Oops. Clearly she hadn’t done a good job. “You.”

“What am I doing worth grinning at?” He echoed mockingly.

“I don’t even know.” Charmian shook her head, dark curls bouncing around her face as the smile widened. “Guess I’m just in a good mood today. Classes are going okay, only a month left, had a fun night, apparently I’m going on vacation… it’s just all good, you know?”

He smiled, taking her by surprise when he reached up to tuck a stray strand back behind her ear. Now she thought about it he was standing pretty close. “Glad to hear it. Sounds like you’re working shit out.”

“Most of it, though you’d be amazed at how the dumb stuff is the hardest. I’m fairly sure the DMV is some kind of demonic scheme after this morning’s senseless bureaucratic mess but what can you do?” She rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in a small scowl, making him chuckle.

“Doubtful, but even if it is you’re off the clock sweetheart.”

Charmian shrugged and gave a nod. “Still, what I wouldn’t have given for a good mace.”

“Mace?” He laughed. His face was close enough that she could feel his breath as he did so (and smell it, there was a slight beer scent). “You were going to blind them with pepper spray until they gave you a license?”

“Not that kind, an actual mace - big club with the spiked ball on the end. They’re pretty clunky but just about the best thing in the world for pent up aggression. Swords are much more manoeuvrable but there’s something satisfying about the way it connects when you smack somebody round the head with one. Of course that does assume they were demons, maces on actual people aren’t good.”

Justin didn’t respond for a few seconds, blinking slowly. “I really can’t decide whether you’re sexy or terrifying when you talk about weaponry.” 

Maintaining a poker face was difficult; if you asked her this conversation was much more frightening than anything she could do with a blade. Armed guys coming at her she knew how to deal with; this confusion was a whole different proposition. “I don’t know. Are those things always one or the other?”

His blue eyes flicked upwards and met the gaze of her brown ones. Unconsciously he licked his lips. “Good point. Now I think about it you’re definitely both.”

With a red painted nail she scratched at the top of her head. Was this flirting? If it was then she didn’t get it. “I’ll take that.”

“Heh.” He smiled again, a wicked glint in his eye. “In fairness so would I.”

“Sorry JT,” she replied, “you’re not that scary.”

“Maybe not, but I notice you didn’t deny the sexy.”

Okay, she may have been an amateur at this but now she knew he was flirting. Briefly she wondered how much he’d had to drink – he wasn’t drunk by any means but he seemed a little cockier than usual. He certainly hadn’t spoken to her like this before and she wondered if alcohol had loosened his tongue.

“I’m taking your silence as agreement.”

Charmian shrugged. Her quick wit was failing her at this junction. “Do as you will.”

“Dangerous thing to say.”

Justin took that invitation more literally than she’d intended – before she’d even taken her next breath her cheek was being cupped in his hand and his lips were on hers. The kiss lingered for what felt like longer than the four or five seconds it was. When he pulled away it wasn’t far.

His eyes passed over her face, awaiting some sign of reaction. He hadn’t intended to do that yet. The plan was to lay a little more ground work first (as he had with inviting her out and testing how she went amongst his friends) but sometimes you had to go with your gut in that second. Suggesting she follow him to Europe of her own volition had been a pretty big sign and he wasn’t one to miss the opportune moment.

She in turn scrutinised his features, trying to work out if he was too inebriated to take seriously. The knowing calm on his face convinced her otherwise and a smirk began to form.

“Guess I walked right into that one.”

“Too late now, I’m holding you to it.” His smirk matched hers. “Don’t think you’re off the hook because I’m going away either. I’m patient like that.”

Her expression was suddenly inscrutable – he didn’t recognise it as the wryness it was. She’d waited several hundred years for this and he thought he was patient.

“I’ll bear it in mind.”

**

If the two figures on the balcony hadn’t been finally retreating back into the bar, they might have noticed the small orange spark that suddenly blinked into existence through the shadows and shrubbery. Small though it was it stood out in the darkness. It started low, than rose and hovered in mid air before dropping back down again. It shook a little on the spot before repeating itself.

The lit cigarette kept burning away as the smoker fiddled with it between his fingers, tapping the end with his thumb and dropping ash in the process. He stared thoughtfully after them. His head tilted to the side and lips twisted in a pondering expression.

As silently as he had arrived, Anton disappeared in the blink of an eye.