A nice spot to watch anything

Etrius sat on the rocks looking out at the sea. The waves crashed on the shore below him and threw up a light salty ocean mist that blew lightly against his face. It contrasted with the smoke from the cigarette like object in his mouth that gave no odor but gave off a very visible smoke. Etrius was not a smoker, however, in order to administer the absurdly unstable medication that kept his internals in check, he would have to either put up with the image of a smoker or he would have to carry around a small furnace, gas source, and a dozen different chemical vials and a tube to inject the medication intervenously. It was not a hard choice.

He sat there, his eyes fixed on the shoreline and out to sea. Normally he would be out there taking care of corporate stuff, but he was not Sam. His job was just a job, an interesting job and well paying but he didn't really want to do it, at least not the paperwork. He pulled the medi-stick (that's what loyd called it anyway) from his mouth and looked up at the sky.

"where did you go?"

He asked to nobody. Nobody answered.

Danni sat on a boulder several feet away. Her legs pulled up to her chest and her chin balanced on her knees. She was wearing a swim suit top and her swimming shorts. Danni's surf board sat several feet away in the sand. Her unnatural sky blue eyes fixed on it. Generally when stressed she would be surfing. But she wasn't stressed, she was mourning. There was a difference. A air of sadness about her. Danni tugged at a lock of dark brown hair, she would dye it back tomorrow to her natural color. She hated brown.
Danielle stood abruptly and picked up her surfboard and unfastened the Velcro. She didn't have the energy to swim today.

Etrius looked over as he heard the velcro. The crossbow across his back got in the way so he readjusted it to look at the girl a couple meters away. Her brown hair seemed unnatural and she tugged at it, definitely uncomfortable with it, not her natural color? He picked himself up off of his sitting position, stuck the medi-stick back in his mouth and shoved his hands in his pockets.

He jumped from the small ledge he was on and hit the sand about 2 meters below him with an almost inaudible grunt and a roll. This girl intrigued him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking, getting within earshot even with the sound of the rolling waves, he decided that announcing his presence was an order. The medi-stick was almost gone, good, he only needed one a day. He took the thing from his mouth, threw it down, and stamped it out on the beach, he did not need the girl to get bad impressions of him.

"Yo"

Danni was about to settle back down onto the rocks when she heard a voice.
"Yo."
She lept up and spun on her heal, sand spraying slightly. Her pale blue eyes were haunted and they flicked up to his face. She stayed silent as Danni thought no word was needed. It was easy to see her body was corded with muscle and there was a silvery circular scar right below her collar bone. What was it from? A bullet. Completely possible, considering Demi-gods do odd things outside camp. There was also another slight scar at the corner of her lip. Barely noticeable.

Etrius waved and tried to put an endearing smile on his face. His jet black eyes that didn't have easily visible pupils didn't usually put people at ease but he tried to make up for it with a gentle demeanor. The girl jumped and spun towards him. She settled into a . . . combat stance? perhaps it was a subconscious reaction. It was pretty good, she looked like she was used to fighting judging from the many visible scars on her body.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The crossbow probably didn't help but he put up his empty hands with palms facing outward. The universal gesture for 'hey, I'm not holding a huge a** weapon to kill you with'. He stopped at his spot, a wave crashed and threw up a light spray.

Danni scrutinized him with her eyes narrowed.
"People say that but refuse to make a noise when they are watching somebody," She said finally. Danni's voice was slightly accented... was it Hispanic? Italian? It was hard to tell since she spoke so little. Her defensive position relaxed slightly as Etrius wasn't holding any huge weapons. The waves splashed sea spray on the back of her long bare legs.

Etrius felt a very mild pang of indignation.

"Well I'm sorry, I noticed you about a minute ago and the walk over took thirty seconds." He stated.

He walked over to the bolder and clambered onto it, brushing himself off after he did so. He looked up and stuck out his hand. The leather fingerless gloves were worn to the point where the leather was smooth to the touch.

"You looked like you needed a friend. I'm here to offer you one. I'm Etrius by the way"

Danni took his hand slowly, she could feel calluses on his finger tips. No doubt from the weapon or weapons he used.
"Danni or Danielle doesn't matter which," She introduced herself before letting go of his hand. The leather had been soft and through that Danni guessed he did a lot of work with his hands. Still there was something there about the girl that was mournful. She tugged at the strand of her hair again as she studied Etrius. Her brain running several calculations on the boy before her.

Etrius let go of the girls hand. Nice grip, she was definately a force to be reckoned with. He was about to put his hand in his pocket before he felt a sharp pain in his torso and couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from twitching downwards. Hmm, seems like he got too small a dosage of his medication. Curse that rouge demi-god for getting his filthy hands on a gun, purging the lead was taking longer then expected. There were still remnants of Kronos's army, even now. He really did not want to use a medi-stick in front of the girl but the pain would only keep getting worse.

Ah well, he had endured worse when the bullet went in and even worse then that when Loyd pulled the bullet out. Not enough painkiller, yeah right, the guy probably just wanted Etrius to squirm a bit.

"Anything on your mind?" He asked as the girl continued to study him. He considered making an inuendo but the look in the girl's eyes told him she probably lost someone. He had seen it plenty of times in members of the Colossus combat teams. "Something's bothering you. Mind telling a fellow soldier?" He was taking a gamble this time. But this time he was confident.

Danni saw him make a face of pain, "You all right?" she asked unable to help herself. She didn't like it that people were often in pain, she had dealt with it to often herself. Heck, every time she blinked she could see the flash of a gun going off behind her eyelids.
"Anything on your mind?" Danni shook her head. Her lips pressing into a thin line. Then the boy in front of her pressed further, "Something's bothering you. Mind telling a fellow soldier?"

"Why would I tell you? What on earth makes you think I even am or was a soldier?" She asked him. She was deadly serious with these questions. His answer could make the difference in this conversation.

Etrius shrugged. "Intuition I guess. Or I heard what happened in Italy and Colossus managed to mine and cross reference relevant data. You were the only one with any possible connection." He pulled down the neck of his t-shirt to the entry wound where two 9mm bullets had entered his body, just above the right pectoral. It was right where the kevlar ended, one of the reasons he was back at camp. Well, along with James, but he was just taking his leave so Etrius wouldn't feel lonely. The minor lead poisoning was playing hell with his body's already unstable metabolism.

"I've seen the look, haunted, like you're watching the same scene over and over again. Hell, I've had the same look once. Major said I acted like a robot for a week. You got him first, got him good too, and I owe you one, that's all I'll say."

He re-adjusted the shirt and winced again as the pain flared up from the movement of his arms. Curses, he was starting to rethink that choice of medication. He. Was. Not. A. Smoker. D*mmit. He fished a single dogtag on a chain from his pocket and tossed it to her, hoping she would notice that dogtags were supposed to be in pairs, one for record keeping, and one for the family.

"The pain is not going to go away, but it will lessen over time. It will feel like a knife stabbing into your heart. Every time you look in the mirror, you'll see the face of the killer. Every dream will be haunted by that nightmare, of that one night, and you'll try to fix it but nothing will work. Every waking minute, you'll feel feel that guilt, how you failed to protect them, how you managed to screw up, how you got them killed, how you killed them." His face contorted with every point. Those were not pleasant memories.

He hit the quick release on the crossbow carrying strap and it fell to the ground with a clattering noise. Now he was weaponless. Of course he was not helpless, he was far stronger then a 17 year old teenager had any right to be.

"You don't want to call yourself a soldier, that's fine. However, if it looks like a soldier, acts like a soldier, but denies it's a soldier, it is still a soldier. You are a soldier."

He spread is arms wide in an inviting gesture. If she had some way to pull a weapon from thin air or was hiding one somewhere, he was in a seriously bad position. Come to think of it, he had seen an enchanted switchblade somewhere that folded into a malformed quarter. Oh well.

"I've lost before. Hell, I have to live with leading the poor guy to his death, his leader, his commander, his captain, that's the whole reason I keep taking point, so if it was anyone it would be me. It should have been, but it wasn't me. Let me help you."

Danni listened to this boy go off quietly as she came to several conclusions. With a swift move she caught the dog tag and studied it. One tag, someone must have died. When Etrius finished his tiny speech she turned his words over in her head.
"So there is another group dogging my steps," She breathed out, turning the tag over in her fingers. "Interesting."
Truly it was. Dealing with the FBI and Italy was one thing and the Angel Hospital was another. Were did this Colossus fall? She would have to look them up once she came off leave. It wasn't the killing that haunted her, she had been doing that since she was about 10 and her emotions had turned off when it came to that. What bothered her is someone died to save her and she couldn't do any thing to prevent the death of somebody she cared about.
"Why help me?" She finally asked, tossing the tag back to him. "There must be some other thing you can focus on besides helping me."

Etrius gave a light grin and caught the dogtag, pocketing it again.

"Well, you piked my interest. Colossus put me on paid leave to recover after the failed mission so I actually have nothing else better to do. You got him, got him good, I owe you more then you'd know."

Etrius grimaced as the pain lanced up again. Dang, this was just annoying. He hid his pain behind a grin.

"Besides, your face was made to laugh, not for sorrow. I don't want to see another person broken, not if I can help it."

More pain, that did it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a medi-stick and a lighter. He frowned.

"Sorry about this, but despite what this looks like, this is not a cigarette. It's medication for metabolic imbalances." He put the stick in his mouth and pointed with his free hand at the bullet wound as the other hand flicked the lighter. One puff and the pain began to subside. His eyes shot up. "And I am not a smoker."

"Why did I spike your interest? Better yet what is this Colossus?" Danni asked, adjusting her surf board under her arm. Etrius kept mentioning that name and now it was starting to bother her OCD side just a little bit. She took a step to the left to avoid getting smoke in her face. Not commenting on the Medi-stick. Danielle arched an eyebrow and her lips were pressed into a thin line. She highly doubted she would be smiling and laughing any time soon.

Etrius turned away so he would not blow smoke into the girl's face. "You seemed lonely, lost, I simply wanted to help." He said, pulling the medi-stick from his mouth and grinning a little.

"As for Colossus. That's my employer, the Colossus foundation, originally started by me, my boss, and a bunch of other friends to make a bit of money to live off of. Over time . . . I guess it just got bigger."

He chuckled and looked upwards, the medi-stick letting off a thin trail of smoke.

"Our original name was The Freakshow, a bunch of freaks who found each other. I'm one, just about the only ares kid who isn't a complete neanderthal, there's a guy with wings, a blind chick who sees with her skin, and a dude who shoots lasers from his fingertips."

He looked back down. Looking into the girl's eyes. She was doubtful, suspicious, and unstable at the moment. He dropped the grin in favor of an endearing smile.

"I owe you, I don't want to see you broken. That's my motive, nothing else."

Danni resisted an eye roll at the first name. Freak show, slightly fitting. Danni dug her surfboard into the sandy ground considering the boy before her.
"Fine then." Danielle said, leaning on it. She took in everything about Etrius, eyes stopping at the crucifix on his chest. Interesting. She was distracted slightly as a ghost walked right behind him. Then her eyes flicked back to his face. As a Daughter of Persephone she could she ghosts and they annoyed her to death. No pun intended.

Etrius watched the slight eye movement before the girl returned her gaze to his face. She was distracted by something. He noticed her eyes stop at the crucifix though, nobody really bothered when they saw it but she seemed to notice.

"Your eyes flickered to about . . . " he moved his left index finger to a spot in the air next to him. "Right here, for a split second."

He took a puff on the medi-stick, blowing the smoke off to the side. Just another week and he could ditch the medication, at least according to Loyd. He replaced the endearing smile with a good natured smirk.

"Is something on your mind or did you not like what you saw?"

Danni looked directly at him and not at the ghost.
"Has it occurred to you that I may see things you can't? Or I can sense things you can't?" Danni said, arching an eyebrow. Her pale blue eyes scrutinizing his face.
Danni could feel how fast Death was coming for the people around her and how close it was to getting her. It made her feel sick.
"And one does not get inside another head by just asking polity." Her tone was not as hard as it had been.

"Well I wasn't trying to. Unless you want me to try, I'm not very good at it though, that's Sage's thing." Etrius said with a dismissive shrug. He was sure he got enough medication this time so he pulled the medi-stick from his mouth, dropped it one the ground and stamped it out with his foot. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the girl's face.

"Seeing ghosts huh? That must be rather annoying. I'd probably have gone insane by now."

"I've been able to see them since I was little." Danni said, "Generally they don't bother me unless they want something."
Her eyes flicked back to his face. The breeze picked up and a few strands of her hair blew into her pale skinned face. "That one imparticular is one who does not want to die. A camper who died to young by my guess."
Danni looked down at her feet.

Etrius looked into the girl's face. Something was definitely wrong with her. He stepped forward and reached out with his right hand but stopped and hesitated for a second. What the heck was he doing? Confusion and indecision flashed across his face for a second. He had been awkward around women ever since his first girlfriend had disappeared without a trace, blaming himself for it ever since.

Maybe it was time for him to grow some stones and jump off the deep end again. If he got it wrong, the worst he would get was a slap in the face. Unless she had that quarter/switchblade, in that case, oh well. He schooled his face into a gentle smile.

He reached out and brushed the stray hairs gently back.

"Sometimes" he began, putting his hand back in his pocket. "Sometimes people can't accept death as the end. It's a scary thought, to never know where you're going to go afterwards, to not be able to see your friends again, to fight, play, laugh, cry again."

He flicked the crucifix around his neck idly. "I used to think it simply meant slipping into the long dark. The end of the story is much easier on the mind but harder on the soul."

He gave a light chuckle. A happy memory or bed time with his godfather. He had asked a question and his godfather had given a particularly good answer.

"But death can be a beautiful thing, you don't know what will happen next. It doesn't have to be the end of the story, cause all you have to do is turn the page to chapter two."

Something flickered in the girl's eyes when Eticius brushed the hair out of her face. It was there for only about a second, sadness and longing. But the look vanished almost immediately . The boy's fingers brushed Danni's skin for about a fraction of a second causing the girl to stiffen but she didn't push him away.
"Better make it a good story then," Danielle answered softly. "Or you will be forgotten in the dust."
Her blue eyes seemed to examine him with a bit more more curiosity.

[Taipei, Taiwan: High rise office building]

Sam was in his office scribbling away at a few pieces of paper when suddenly he stopped. He straightened up and stared blankly off into space for a few seconds.

"There is a disturbance in the force. It is as if Etrius did something and he isn't being slapped silly for once."

He waited a bit more before shrugging it off and went back to his paperwork.

[back on the beach]

"Ah" Etrius said. "but there's no such thing as a bad story. Badly written perhaps, but when you're having trouble. . ." he stepped forward and used his right hand to lift Dani's head to look into his eyes. "When you're having trouble, you always have someone to help you."

His smile widened and there was a small glimmer in his eyes. A trick of the light perhaps, but that was irrelevant. "I owe you remember? Miss protagonist?"

[Random town, Italy, random cafe]

Sage sneezed, causing many of the patrons to cast him strange looks. He sniffled for a bit before scowling.

"Someone is stealing my thunder." He muttered. He turnned his attention back to the menu before him.

"Seriously, the only word on this thing I know is espresso."

Danni stiffened under his touch and took a few paces back, her eyes flashing. Was it with anger or fear? For Danni it was in fear.
Finaly she opened her mouth and spoke in her native tongue, "Tu sei un ragazzo che gioca con le parole modo troppo e non ha il senso dei confini personali."
She swallowed before saying, "How in the name of Hades would you owe me when I have done nothing?"

Etrius pulled his hand away, stepping back and blew out a long breath.

"His name was Josh, Last name unknown, so we took a page out of Halo's book and called him Josh-021. Quiet kid, didn't talk much, transferred into my command after his old squad disbanded."

He away from Dannielle's eyes, down at the ground. His face dropped the smile and went blank, wooden, emotionless.

"He was always awkward around the other guys, best shot next to the major himself. For some reason he followed me around and we became friends."

He shifted on his feet.

"I guess I kinda started feeling responsible for him. It took a while, we were close. Higher ups made contact with some shady organization that had a thing against demi-gods. They managed to connect murder, arson, grand larceny, extortion and grand theft auto to those guys as well."

He frowned as he began recalling the events. He had kept them locked up for some time now.

"Operation: Demi-cannon, that's what High com called it. Send in a platoon, get in, shoot things, grab some intel, get out. They said it would be easy, and they sent me in. It went downhill from the get go. It was a small chateau in the mountains, we managed to get up to it fine but it went downhill when we breached the front door."

He reached up and pulled down the collar of his t-shirt to reveal two the two bullet wounds. One of them was a much older scar then the other.

"I went point like always and Josh was set to come in behind me. But they were ready for us, had a sniper team set up and a thug with a submachine gun near the door. We blew the door, and went in. I got hit by a bullet from the thug, common street trash, his aim was horrible and hit me once, though he also got josh in the chest."

He chuckled bitterly.

"The sniper team took their chance and shot at us. The first one missed me . . . but the second one, he didn't. The rest of the team came in and blew the hell out of them, got one and sent the other scurrying off like a rat. The rest of the raid, we lost three more before we cleared out the rest of the house, the remainder fled for the hills."

He looked back up into the girl's eyes and tacked on a half-hearted grin.

"One of the guys you killed was the same guy that got Josh. I couldn't protect him, but at least I could avenge him. Looks like you did it for me . . . Thanks."