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“I am working on it!”

Well that seemed harmless enough. This was a funnest romp through Barton yet as far as Maximos was concerned. Oh, sure there was blood lost and bite and scrape marks dug into his flesh, and this jacket...well it would probably never smell right again, but that did not matter. Max grinned, giving Madison a chance to work out her idea. He heard a sound like teeth sinking into an apple, which was oddly enough close to accurate. A zombie bit past red cloth and young Madison, but she could handle it, she would learn nothing if he treated her like some kind of damsel in distress and wisked in to save her from every little cut and scrape.

All and all, Maximos felt he had a good bead on the situation and could give the bunny time to problem-solve. It wasnt like Madison was going to suddenly barrel head first into the zombie horde with some sort of insane reckless abandon.

“MAX! I GOT AN IDEA! STAY THERE!” And then, Madison suddenly barreled head first into the zombie horde with some sort of insane reckless abandon.

All at Max could feel it. It was the moment when a predator sights prey. It was the moment when blood hit the shark infested water. Madison was the weaker, the easier target. She was prey in a building completely full of predators. And while the undead lacked the facilities to be anything more than lumbering mindless eating machines the threat...the sentiment...it was all to familiar. Max was moving before he even thought the command.

"MADISON NO!" Maximos did not stay there, he did not even almost stay there. No sooner than the bunny girl turned tail and ran, than did Maximos race after her.

For the first time, Maximos understood the enhancements given Madison. She was more than just the creation of an obscure furry loving doctor, she had more than just a cannon of a kick...She was fast. It must have been a handful of heartbeats after she called out that she ran, and even less than that until he ran. But by time Maximos skidded around the hall, Madison was already halfway down it!

He tried, to beat a path across the horde, but they were just too many. Between Maximos and the bunny woman was several feet of rotting, walking, meat. Meat, that even as it was destroyed was still confined to the cramp tunnel of a hallway and still in his way. Anger seethed through the Shadow like fire pulsing in his veins, his teeth gnashed together and he swung, punched, and kicked his way into the rear of the undead mass, but with no effect. This left Maximos swinging furiously and watching as the red dot that was Madison slipped farther...and farther away.

Sure, he had not played all of his cards yet. He had bigger and badder attacks, but what good would that have done? He could have killed faster perhaps, but not fast enough. Nothing he could do would turn their attention away, the undead cared nothing for their own well being they only had eye for the white rabbit. At this close a range, in a building as dilapidated as this employing more force only meant hurting her worse. What if he knocked her over? If she fell now she'd be dead before he reached her. She would be dead before she could finish screaming.

Creaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak.

"No..." He lipped the words, and then ran. Killing was not working, like a fish surfing through water, Maximos swerved, pushed, dashed, and worked his way fluidly through the horde as they drained into a single room. Closer and closer he came until with a kick he shoved a zombie face first the room and then...

CRASH!

The floor fell out from the room just before he reached. Maximos was deafened by the sound of crunching metal, crumbling stone, and crushing flesh. All he could see was a cloud of drywall and smoke, even before the room finished settling undead continued to boggard their way past him rushing from the tasty treat inside the room and falling to their ultimate doom.

"Madison..." He whispered, flexing the fingers in his right hand and waiting for the inevitable free floating soul to drift from the wreckage. Maximos saw, as Reapers and the very near dead only could, the sight of a Reaper drones descending on the scene. It floated weightlessly down the opening, a tattered and impossibly black cloak holding a simple wooden scythe with bony hands, and lacking a face. It was here to collect, the moment the body died. With a wave of Maximos' hand, the drone stopped, pausing in mid air as the faceless underside of its hood turned to the Shadow for instruction. With no small measure of sadness, Maximos responded to its silent inquiry.

"She's mine." He said, and hopped forward. His left hand smacked against broken wall, his foot hit the wall and immediately stepped into a quickly formed black puddle, giving him a grip to stick to halfway to the wall. Like this, he drifted down, the puddle stretching into a streak as it lowered him with his hand keeping balance. The drone followed slowly behind, just in case. Maximos hopped off the broken wall near its base, stepping near but not on to the pile of wreckage.

"Madison!" He said, a bit louder than before, hoping to shout through the wreckage. He could have used his eye to pierce the rock and see her soul but he didnt want to know...for a moment he tossed himself on hope and spoke again. "Madison...if your in there..."

The drone inched closer, reading his tone for hestitation. Maximos stemmed it with a sweep of his hand again igniting his eye with a long sigh as he scanned the wreckage for any sign of life. If or when, Madison showed herself, it would not be Maximos she would see...not at first. It would be someone else. So close to death, so very surrounded by death Madison would be given a glimpse of something else. She would hear his voice, but where Maximos should have been standing would be a man dressed in a long flowing black hooded jacket. The hood of the jacket would cast a shadow over the top half of his face, and in his hands was a jet black scythe. Madison may remember this man, she may remember the way he chased her brutally across the frozen tundra of Guldor, wielding that very scythe and baring down on her like death itself. She may remember the doors to the Black Hospital shutting him out...

...And then the vision was gone. Just a flash. Where the man held the scythe, was Maximos gun. Where the black hooded jacket covered, was the now the blood stained Maximos, looking at her, for her, with a weak smile before flipping out his pocket watch and looking at it, waiting for a sign.

Maximos did not want to see it at first, but once he did it was all that he could see. Her body, broken and bent in a sea of dead, floating in the proverbial tide and yet all together subtracted from it. The rotting infected were a gray backdrop to the bright red stains on her face, she stood out in the crowd like the blood stood out on her snow white ears.

Maximos saw her, and he imagined her smile. He remembered her silly buck teeth. He remember her scent in the hall over the scent of blood and taste of flesh. He remembered the feel of her kindness, the strange color it turned her aura. He remembered he room, and her books, and even the sharp pang he felt for her when he exited the bathroom and she was crumpled to the floor choking that sharp shard of glass.

And then, utterly and completely he cursed himself. This was, truly and absolutely his own fault. His stupidity, his recklessness had cost the world one more precious and unique life. If he had not tried to make this "fun", if he had just dealt with the horde properly she would never have thought such a fool hardy sacrifice was necessary. It wouldnt have been. Now, as always Maximos thought very little of the foes he'd slain...but he would be forever haunted by the friends he sent to die.

The dim light of her soul faded like a dying match, shrinking in on itself until it was little more than a single burning ember. Soon it would puff out, and his cold hand would be the last thing she experience before being wisked off.

Maximos watched the counter on his pocket watch drop. 3. 2. 1. Reflexively his hand reached out, touching her cool cheek, ready to catch her spirit, but it never came. The counter had fallen to 1, and then stopped. The idea of this watch being jammed was impossible, but none the less Maximos shook it. And suddenly the counter began to start up again. 1. 2. 3. 24. 48. 60. And then the second set of digits engaged.

:00:00:00:09:42: The minute counter sped in a blur with the hours ticking away until suddenly the hour counter raced from its slow ascension into a blur, in mere moments the month timer did the same, and leaving the years to tick away. The watch was very reassessing her allotted time, until finally it came to a stop at a number far far higher than one, and at a time a very long time away from today.

Max felt a smile try to force its way to his cheeks but was so very drowned in his sadness it barely showed. Death would have been peaceful. As the light of her soul reignited and visibly sped along her body, twitching or pulsing at her injuries he realized exactly how broken she had become. The pain at seeing her pain outweighed any joy or excitement.

With a click his watch was closed and his free hand searched the inside of his jacket, finally pulling out what looked like a small tea bag. They were at a loss for warm water but it would have to do. Softly, gently, he slid the tea bag between her lips. It would taste very sweet and yet distinctly herbal. Life leaf. It would help, it would make sure as long as there was life that the wounds would heal, but it would take a while, hours even.

She reached out, life flooding her mind. Pain would be next. Max immediately grabbed her hand, using his Soul Sight to see her injuries he very very cautiously avoided them as he lift her quite easily from the wreckage and into his arms.

"I'm so, so sorry this is all my fault. I wont ask you to forgive me..." If he had just taken it seriously, if he hadnt played with someone elses life. He intended to carry Madison in his arms until such time as she could walk again. At the moment, he didnt imagine she had the health to fight this decision.

"I...we...we just need to get you someplace safe where the leaf has a chance to work...dont take that out." She was alive, but Max's face still looked as if someone had died. Like he had never known a smile. But he hadnt the time to be concerned with any of that.

A whole room did not fall without making noise, and he knew that their were more undead in Barton than what painted these walls. He had to move. Toward the door, toward the hall, toward the street, and finally toward the station where they could fortify. He would not make the same mistake twice.

To be honest, there was so much blood everywhere that Maximos couldnt tell what was his, hers, or theirs anymore. It was the very opposite of sanity. He had entirely misread what he appeared to be a broken bone protruding from her leg. As he lift her, there was a wet squelching sound and a piece of rebar tore through her leg, opting to stay with the heavier concrete slab and not the bunny.

She was hurt, and hurt badly but the memory of the timer on his pocket watch told him that she would pull through. The bleeding would stop soon enough, he just needed to carry her outside...And then he felt a squeeze.

"No Madison, you should be saving your..."That was exactly the sort of protesting that would get a person this weak killed. He looked down at her with a dry face, all pallor and sadness...and met her smile. And then what happened next was only natural, he smiled in return. It was a tiny thing, but it was real and the warmth it sent through him was just as real. The smile snowballed as these things do into a chuckle as Max reached the room door.

"Your the luckiest woman in the world, you know that right?" The Shadow said as he nimbly made his way across the living room as if Madison, spread across his arms like a knight would carry a maiden, weighted nothing at all.

"You, my dear, have two lucky rabbits feet." He even tilted her just slightly so that her feet, hanging over his right arm were higher than the rest of her. And he laughed. She had probably heard it a thousand times, but walking around the large yellow couch at the center of the room...he didnt care. "No no. Its probably best you dont laugh, I think you have some broken ri--"

And then he heard the blood curdling, piercing howl, and Maximos froze. In his arms, Madison would be able to feel his arms suddenly tense. His entire body was suddenly rigid like a statue. His coldness and pallid skin only made the image that much perfect. The humor on his face drained away, he looked down at her and for a moment the stiff humorless expression on his face returned but it was immediately overcome by a tightening of his jaw, and a slanting of his brow.

"Ms. Madison." Maximos said in a deathly serious tone. "I'm going to need to set you down for a moment."

He turned on his heels and faced the dilapidated yellow, brown, and red couch. Most of the multi-colored patches were dried patches of something utterly vile, but it would have to do. Very evenly, he set her down, laying her as flat as possible. Her super-sharp ears would hear the footsteps clamoring up the stairs and down the hall, there was no door any more but they had yet to come into view. Maximos looked Madison dead in the eyes as he slid his arms out from under her. Something in the black and white gaze was impossibly intense, as if his eyes had actual physical weight to them. "I need you stay behind me..."

There they were, at first they rushed past the doorway, then they centered back on it and began trying to rush through it all at once. This of course caused a momentary traffic jam. "No matter what."

And then they were free, gushing into the room en masse. This was not the horde they had faced earlier...this was more. The rotting corpses had not even reached the table in the center of the room but there were already too many to count. Maximos stood, his eyes glanced over hers for a moment. His black left eye was fierce and dark as night, and without warning his white right eye ignited as if it were a torch blazing inside his skull. With a flick of his wrist, something small and black flew from Maximos' left hand. And then, Snap. He was holding a jet black long sword in that very hand. His right hand balled into a fist so tight it was trembling, and as he turned to face the horde he spoke one more time. His words held none of the intensity shown in his form, and yet were spoken in the same sort of factual manner as one would speak of the sun rising, or rain falling. "I will handle this."

Was it five or six? With their speed it could have been ten, but it didnt matter. Maximos' form did not move, there was a blurry black line slashed from his left side, and then back. With one slash Madison would watch a line bisect the zombies in two, cutting through them as if they were warmed butter. With the second slash Maximos' sword came back and effortlessly swatted the blood splatter from the initial cut away before even a drop hit the couch.

Just as fast there were more, and Maximos did not move. And yet he did. His feet never left the small placement rug in front of the couch and under the living room table, but the zombies died just as easily as if he had danced through the crowd and cut them each. Before even a one reached the couch either the reaching limb or the zombie itself was diced into so many pieces that it seemed as if it had crossed some sort of invisible cheese grater protecting the rabbit for even a gory splash.

Max wielded his sword not as much men or women wield weapons on Gaia. He did not swing with bursts of great power, or explosions of mystical or magical energy. Nothing shone, new illuminated or crackled. Maximos simply swung, cut, and continued on. The battle waging as if it had been expertly choreographed. A zombie reached across the foot of the couch only to find its skull grabbed and tugged by Maximos' right, as it jerked toward Maximos its stumbling motion blocked an approaching troupe of rots, as it moved Maximos cut left to right slicing its head off effortlessly. As he completed the slash he released the sword, freeing his left hand. Before gravity could touch the sword his right hand fluidly grabbed it holding it in reverse with its blade downward, bisecting the previous troupe of zombies in a single slash right across the hips. Their legs became mostly useless, and they fell. In the same turning motion with which they were cut, Maximos' left hand reached out to the head of the couch, shoving a zombie back by his forehead. The zombie stumbled back into more zombies, his right hand immediately followed through twirling the jet black sword that it sprayed a fan of undead ichor (none hitting the couch) and flipped to a proper grip, blade forward. The sword sunk through four zombies before it reached the extension of Maximos' arm. And then with a circular slashing motion it ended the entire group, and exited its circle by removing the head of another zombie who thought he might get anywhere near the foot of the couch.

Plop. Plop. Plop.

Max bounced the head on the flat of his sword, moving it away before it could spill on the couch, and then. CRACK. He smacked the head high, and struck it with the sword like a bat. The head hit another zombie square in the chest, who then fell back on more, and then the dance continued. In on moment a zombies arm was sliced off at a jagged angle, Maximos followed the slash by impaling the zombie through the chest, it stared at the sword confused as his right hand took the severed arm and jammed the sharp bone edge into the eye of a shambling corpse coming from behind. The corpse stumbled back, buying the precious heartbeat of time necessary to grab his sword, bisect the first zombie vertically and swipe the head off the second.

Maximos never, seemed out of breath. He was never, cut, bit, scratched, or even so much as spit on. Despite the speed and grace with which his sword did change hands, he never flipped or jumped or skipped or hopped, but it was rather clear that he could have and Nocturne only knew how the zombies would fair them. If it took hours, he fought for hours. If they came for miles, then he would clean miles. The very last undead to visit the room seemed late, he ran in only to find that there was only one path with which he could walk. The entire living room was walled in by zombie corpses in very many pieces and he was alone. Not one had even fallen on the neat rug, though their blood stained it and the table.

Madison would get to see a rare treat. The zombie entered the room and shambled around the fallen bodies. As it stumbled toward Maximos, it actually began to move slower. Maximos looked the zombie square in its glazed over eyes. It moved slower. He flicked a spray of blood from his sword drawing a greenish red arch across the far wall to match countless others. The zombie paused...stopping dead in front of the small rug. It looked at Maximos, and then his sword, then Maximos, then the bodies. It looked at Madison. Maximos shook his head.

Zombies run off basest of emotions and drives. Food being the strongest. But there are other base emotions, other instincts that are stronger than food. This zombie was experiencing one that most undeads never get the chance to, and his rotted brain was confused. This instinct was called, self preservation. It said...due to the overwhelming evidence around the room that stepping forward meant death and not food. But it also said that it needed food to live. There was no food around. If it did not have food it would die. If it moved forward it would die. And so with no reason to live, that is exactly it did. It died.

"Bleck." Was the last sound it made as it suddenly slumped forward over the table and died. The zombie, had effectively been scared to death. There was silence.

Maximos said nothing. Because now, the very reason he blamed himself for Madison's injuries was more than evident. Guns...were not his specialty, they were a gun new toy, and in the face of their danger he played with his new toy and let her be hurt. He did not simply act as a Reaper should have. He held back, and she nearly died. As proven in this exact moment, Maximos, was, is and shall forever be a swordsman. And yet despite all of this, he did not have the courage to turn around and face the girl behind him. Now she would know, it was his fault. All his fault.

Instead, just to be sure Maximos impaled his sword through he coffee table and the zombie. This caused something of a splatter. A single drop sailed over his shoulder, and past it. And if Madison was looking she would notice that it was doing what no other drop had the chance to do. It was about to fall on the tip of her nose. Perfectionism, instinct, overcame reason for a moment and Maximos whipped around in a blur. With a splat, the drop landed on his finger tip. And now, as he was automatically looking at his finger in front of her nose...he was looking at her face, and then her crimson eyes.

Maximos was not spotted or splashed with blood....his entire front half was red, as were his arms up to his elbows. There was no escaping it now. He looked at Madison, all hints of a smile gone.

"I wont ask you to forgive me but, I am more sorry than words."

“Max...” With her free hand, she grabbed a hold of the hand above her face. Maximos' reaction was automatic. He was slightly bent, and immediately moved to stand up, attempting to slide his had back with the motion as to make as natural a pull away as possible. But Madison had it, and she didn’t let go as her grip was still very soft and even supportive. He wouldnt hurt her to free himself. She had his attention but not his eyes, Maximos' eyes darted left and right across the room avoiding hers if the deep red of her eyes had some sort of magic power over his own.

“I...don’t know what you are talking about... but...” His eyes fell on stains, corpse, and for a couple seconds his entire face was hidden behind a sleeve as it attempted to scrub off the blood. Of course a blood sleeve can only do so much. His gaze was called by her simple motion. Madison tugged slightly towards her to cause him to look at her despite the fact that was probably the last thing he wanted too. But her eyes were conveying a message. Rather than being angry or even insulted, she still had her kind and sincere look to her. It was heartbreaking, how could she not know? He was silent, but his lips were pursed in a flat straight line across his face, like his lips were the seal on a ziplock back and kept words he did not want to say in check.

“What I do know is that today alone, you have save my life more than once....” She coughed a little which caused small speckles of remaining blood exit her mouth and caused her to wince rather violently. Maximos interjected at the pause, reflexively squeezing her offered hand. His tone, almost pleaded for her to understand. "I also endangered it! If I just did what you just saw, you never would have had to lure them away, I could have just--"

“It...isn’t your fault..” He fell silent. Somehow, perhaps hidden in her eyes, or tone, or simply the look on her face, something in Madison conveyed truth. She wasnt blind, she understood, but she felt this way anyway. His eyes moved slowly from hers, and to where their two hands met. A normal person would have seen Maximos dishing out wholesale death and ran away screaming.

She was still standing there with him.

She wasn’t afraid of the monster he was.

“...You are hurt.”
"I'm fine."

He said back automatically. And he was. Of course, Madison had no way of knowing, but Maximos had taken far worse than this. Even now the chunks bitten out of him had puckered full of black ooze and sealed over in a sort of makeshift scab. Cuts and scrapes from the gunfight above had bled thin black lines that sewed his wounds shut. It was called Shadow Stitching, it was a sort of make shift first aid. Of course black shadows, against deep red blood, ooze, and dried brownish black blood...was impossible to see. Maximos didnt even care about that, it wasnt her words that reached him so much as the utterly selfless tone behind them. Even if Maximos had absolutely no means of first aid, the sum total of his wounds were nothing compared to hers. And now she was reaching, so adorably for him, attempting to offer him back the life leaf tea.

“Here. Take it. You need it.” She said, and Maximos' could help the smile that crept across his face. His other hand immediately and yet delicately moved forward, sliding along his pant leg to remove excess redness. His hand found her hand first and slid outside of it, bringing it together with her other hand so that in the end Maximos was cupping both. And then, cupping both he was gently pushing them back toward her. "No, you need this more."

“I am sorry. Those are my fault...if I wasn’t so stupid and getting into trouble...you wouldn’t be hurt.” Oh. Oh it was like that was it? Now that was a sneaky trick. A dirty trick! And he hadnt seen it coming. Not many could be say they had subverted a Reaper so effectively. Maximos' smile rolled into a laugh and a shake of his head and he knelt down beside the couch. If she would let him, he would slide his hands from hers, but the look on his face said he wasnt breaking away like he might have earlier. His hands would only raise up in front of him in the universal symbol for surrender.

"Alright, alright, I concede! I see what your doing. I wont blame myself if you dont in turn blame yourself. And from this moment forth we can both be more careful." It was such a sweet, pretty scene...amongst countless mangled and mutilated corpses stacked ceiling high, in the middle of a zombie infested city, covered in blood and rot and a thousand other zombie bits it was impossible to identify...very touching.

Perhaps it was the ability to see the soul that gave a hint toward her motivations. Perhaps its was the way she pushed herself even beyond what stubbornness would dictate. Perhaps, he simply guessed at how he might reaction in her position and understood. But either way, Maximos did not even try to stop her. He cocked an eyebrow, but then he leaned backwards and sat on the table behind him, beside the impaled zombie, and leaning against the flat of his sword.

“Time to get moving...I’ve...wasted too much time already.”
"I see."

Was all Maximos said, and then with a shove of his legs he slid the table back along the carpet so that Madison had a foot of extra room to move. Being so close was only going to make an already difficult thing even more difficult. In the meantime he reached under the table like a true magician and with a flick of his wrist created a jet black cloth which he began using to wipe off his face. And no matter how long she took, Madison was learning and proving that against the consequences of her own actions, she could still stand on her feet without leaning or running to anyone else. Maximos saw that, and so he never looked impatient or upset. He just looked. His mismatched eyes gave away nothing of the sentiments or thoughts behind them, and yet it was clear he was thinking.

“Max..." His navy blue eyebrows raised and his head moved quizzically to the side.
"Why did you call me Alice before?” Initially he frowned, but then his lips moved straightened into a flat line. Her soft pale face was very gentle as she looked at him while looking at the man before her. But at the same time, there was only the face that belonged to a very lost and confused individual, and Maximos could not bring himself to add to that confusion.

She was determined. He had to give her that, she wasnt even letting her injuries slow her hungering quest for information. It was respectable, but Madison did not know the dangerous waters she tread in, and Maximos was taking a moment to figure out how to sate her, without signing her death warrant.

“Please, don’t lie to me either...I just...want the truth. I am tired of people lying to me...” Madison almost looked slightly defeated as she spoke these words. Maximos' response was immediate, so quick in coming that it showed absolutely no doubt in the statement. Which meant no attempts to conceal, which meant no lie.
"I have never lied to you." Maximos said, his mismatched eyes focused on hers and for an instant, all the levity in his face was gone. This was not an insulted or angry face, just a serious one. A very serious one.

"I have with held information that it is not my place to share. It is a required practice in my line of work. Saying nothing, and misleading are two very different concepts. You'll need to understand that if you are to continue this line of questioning. As there are questions I can not answer, even though I may know the answer. And if we are to trust each other you must understand that this is not a kind of deception, but an adherence to my duty." Maximos leaned back slowly, never breaking eye contact, never losing the seriousness painting his face. Madison was a woman, not a child, and he would treat her as such, especially in this regard. As his back pressed against the flat of his sword fully, his hands fell to his lap.

"The question you've just asked me, is one that I can answer only because you would have found the answer soon enough either way. However...if you continue you as you are now, you will never find said answers, and my ability to answer your query is lost. So I must provide a proposition." Maximos paused to make sure the young rabbit woman understood. It was very important that she understood, or things would become very unpleasant for the two of them.

"You may want to stand and walk on your own, you may even want more than anything to cross the streets against all odds into that police station but...in your current condition you likely will not even make it across the street. Place the tea back in your mouth, allow me to remove that from your leg and patch you some, and then give yourself the time it takes to heal, and even sleep, and I will tell you what you want to know." His eyes dropped to her leg, and then back to hers, "The information you're looking for has been there for years, it will still be there in a few hours."

And then he extended his right hand and very formally said. "Do we have a deal?"

“...Do I have to sleep?” She really was still very young. It would a trait that would save her and cause her alot of pain along the way. The world was not kind to children, and yet the world was softer through the eyes of a child. Maximos' only response was to keep his right hand extended, and look her square in the eyes, his brow slanting slightly. It wasnt an angry or annoyed reaction, but just a silent way of saying, "You know better."

“And...what happens if more of those things show up.” She said. Maximos' hand never fell. This was still a proposal. In his mind she was filling out her side of the deal.

"I will handle them as well. I believe I've proved ability to do so." The large bags spoke louder than her excitement ever could. Maximos knew she was drained. She was tired, she was on her very last legs. She had not eaten and healing at an advanced rate was very strenuous work. Just a little push and she would be out cold.

“And...what if it isn’t there? What happens if it is finally tired of waiting around for me...” Lightly, she reached down and grabbed a hold of the side of the bar in her leg as though to examine the damage to herself. Maximos' eyes never broke from hers, his hand still stood extended waiting for her to openly accept or deny the offer. This was, after all, very serious business. Whether or not she understood it, his duty was always a matter of life and death. And then...

“...can you at least get this out first?” There was a foot extended out toward him, just beside his hand. An eyebrow cocked, Maximos licked his pale lips. He looked at the foot, and the bar, and then back at Madison. She must have been more tired than he imagined as she as repeating exactly what he said to her back at him now. Just incase she had become foggy about the terms of the deal, Maximos decided to repeat them. Exactly. Word for word. Like a machine. There was probably a good reason why he did not have children. He looked Madison dead in the eyes again, and said with a tone bearing no humor but the gravity of the situation.

"Place the tea back in your mouth, allow me to remove that from your leg and patch you up some, and then give yourself the time it takes to heal, and even sleep, and I will tell you what you want to know." His eyes moved to her leg, and then back to hers,

"The information you're looking for has been there for years, it will still be there in a few hours. It survived a zombie invasion, it will survive your nap." And then he extended his right hand again and very formally said. "Do we have a deal?"

That was strange.

The moment Madison accepted the deal any sort of malice or seriousness on Maximos' face simply melted away and left a smiling grinning man. She offered a foot instead of a hand and this could have been considered an offense, or even an annoyance, but the Shadow seemed all too ready to accept. Infact, before her foot could reach his hand he even made the gesture more endearing by removing the bloody leather glove from his large hand and laying it on his lap. Beneath the glove his hand was bandaged, but the bandages stopped at his palm and never reached his fingers.

Very gently he took her leg. And when the shake was done, Maximos was even kind enough to lay the leg in his lap, and automatically begin rolling up her pant so as to get a better look at the rebar. This required tearing a piece of the pant leg, but that was a necessary cost.

Madison would immediately notice the stark contrast between Maximos' two hands. Where his left hand touched her, wearing a fingerless black leather glove, his fingers were warm and soft. Where his right hand touched her, his fingers were icy cold and hard, as if his skin were just a cheap them layer laid over frigid bone. He tilted his leg slightly one way, and then slightly the other. His left hand did the tilting because for his reason once his right hand made contact with her bare pale skin...it didnt really break said contact for any reason.

“I’m sorry...” She said so very apologetically, and Maximos looked up and met her gaze. He was still grinning, from ear to ear, blood stained cheek to cheek. He looked her right in the eyes, and then looked at the teabag. For some reason his right eye seemed just the faintest bit lighter than before. Farther from gray and closer to white.

“But...I think I need a new one.” Maximos chuckled a bit as if this were a joke a tad funnier than it was meant to be and then he responded.

"Dont worry about that, just listen." He said, and with his left he took the tea bag and tossed it over his shoulder. It didnt matter that neither life leaf, or life leaf tea could ever infected. Or that her blood would be worked back into her system naturally and freshened. He could probably have explained that, but he didnt bother. And then placed his hand softly on the rebar bar. He had really expected this bar would have come out when he lifted her and stood with the concrete, but it was particularly stubborn.

"I called you Alice earlier because..." His left hand slowly, but definitely tightened on the rebar bar. His right hand secured her leg.

And when he finally had her attention, he answered her, but she would never hear it. How tired was the bunny? Groggy and drowsy already? He could plainly see exactly how much energy was left in the small woman. It was part of his job really. It was something he had to know...it was also part of finding proper prey. Another part of finding prey is eating prey. In this case, eating meant abusing his right arm, which in roughly 2.5 seconds could knock out a raging bull...and thusly could in less than half a heartbeat render a bunny unconscious. It was a hair trigger he was ready to pull should she have even think to pull her leg free before this exact moment.

She was not dead, or dying, but definitely nearly comatose...so very asleep that she wouldnt even feel the bar twist and jerk free from her leg. And just in case she had some more random spikes of liveliness Maximos' right arm stood on her leg until the bar was gone, quelling the attempts to wake. Then, he lay her sideways back on the couch lengthwise, and reached in his pocket procuring another teabag and slipping it in her mouth, under her tongue so that it could not be swallowed accidentally.

"Goodnight Madison."



Madison would awake several hours later, when her body manually recovered the energy Maximos had stolen and healed itself to the point that it could infact wake up. Whether or not this time was adjusted via Maximos draining more energy so she could heal for longer...there was no way of knowing. But, it was safe to say Maximos never violated the terms of their deal.

Being a Paladin of the Lord of All Nightmares had its perks. As Maximos promised, the night (or rather day) would go good, Madison would not experience any bad dreams to disturb her rest, be they from her own mind or from outside of it.

By the time she did wake, a few things would announce themselves first. Immediately she would notice that the room smelled like old books and tea, instead of rot. With her first motions she would notice bandages on her feet and hands, and face, and that none of those wounds ached. Whenever she opened her eyes she would notice Maximos sitting on the couch across from her, opposite the table, as if only minutes had passed. Only now the Shadow was squeaky clean, as was she. One of his legs was folded over the other, and a book was open in his lap. The apartment they were in looked to be almost completely renovated. Looking at this place it was if the invasion had never occurred. Moonlight poured in easily through the window and reflected off of every remotely shiny surface. Not a single corpse remained, not a single blood stain. A voice that was old, and calming, and wise but belonged to neither Madison nor Maximos said...

"Will the Master be requiring anything else?" To which Maximos looked up from his book smiling and responded.

"No Walter, thank you." Before the bunny could look around the room to find him, the other man was gone. However, she would find that the table between Maximos had been stocked. It was absolutely covered from one end to the other with food, enough to feed several people. About now she might notice she was hungrier than she had even been in her life before. Ever. The beast in her belly was howling like some sort of hound deep in the deepest pit of hell. Maximos was looking at her now, smiling devilishly.

"How did you sleep? I hope you dont mind Walter took the liberty to freshen and repair your clothes, while you were in them." At which point he looked at the table and then back at her and added. "Hungry?"