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It had never been in Vanessa to deny the need of a friend, or the call of a loved one. She and Kam had not known each other very long, but he was as impossible to resist as anything could ever be. Vanessa was utterly at Kam's beck and call, and shameless in her enthusiasm to be of use to him.

Nobody, it seemed, had ever taught her to play hard to get. When it came to the subject of boys, Mr. Rae could hardly string a couple of sentences together before freezing up and turning three shades whiter.

He had a 'just don't' sort of policy, and approved fervently of the way his daughter had taken to hitting boys instead of… other things.

But Vanessa was a curious creature, and could not pretend the butterflies that erupted in her belly every time Kam texted her were anything else. They came with her to the gym, where she'd met the slightly older boy's gaze with a blush.

They were still there, wild and fluttering, when Kam started venting all of his anger and frustration out on the punching bag that she held steady. Vanessa was thoughtful where she stood, braced with her feet shoulder width apart, and wondered what had gotten under his skin. But she kept her questions to herself, for once, and trusted that he would tell her if he wanted to.

If there was anything Vanessa understood, it was that, sometimes, punching something made feeling easier to deal with.

Concern for him had quelled the butterflies in her stomach, but they surged to renewed life once Kam decided to to take a break. Vanessa pretended not to notice the raw beauty that was Kam's sweaty chest, and found that her tongue had broken.

How silly.

"Uh, yeah," she finally managed, and brushed passed him on her way to the benches, "A break would be nice."

Kam's confession made Vanessa's jaw drop open.

There was no telling what she'd expected, but one thing was certain. It wasn't this. Kam had found his brother. He should have been overjoyed. He should have been with Khetal, instead of with her. He shouldn't… he shouldn't have been so angry that he'd needed to seek out some sort of release at the gym.

Vanessa could guess why, and felt profoundly for Kam.

Theirs must not have been an especially happy reunion. If it was a reunion at all.

Her stomach dropped sharply, and Vanessa thought that she might be sick. Kam hadn't said whether or not his brother was alive.

She sat quietly, unsure of what to say, and waited for him to continue. It seemed to her that Kam wanted to talk. He was trying to. She wished suddenly desperately that she knew more words, so that she could say exactly the right thing and make all of his pain go away.

But Vanessa's vocabulary was weak.

She stared at him, startled expression slowly turning pensive, and then nudged his foot gently with hers.

"What happened?"

Apprehension made her tense. She was expectant where she sat, golden eyes wide with dread, and preparing herself for the worst.

Amongst the people who lived in her neighbourhood Vanessa had always been that girl with the smile. She was the girl who talked. The girl who snubbed her father's warnings by befriending homeless men and bringing them tuna whenever their supplies ran out.

Until last year, when she'd failed senior year and been forced to repeat, Vanessa had always been the kid at the back making spit-ball guns and paper aeroplanes when she was supposed to be reading Hamlet. When she handed in her work it was generally half-assed and in poor repair. Most of her teachers had agreed that Vanessa was a discipline problem.

This had changed recently, and she was due to graduate with acceptable grades.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was that right here, right now, when Kam so obviously needed her, Vanessa listened. With rapt attention.

She relaxed visibly when Kam revealed that Khetal was not, in fact, dead. A soft sigh slipped passed her lips, but she remained otherwise silent. It was important to Vanessa that Kam trusted her enough to share things like this, and she didn't want to risk sabotaging that for anything.

When she was sure that he had finished speaking, at least for now, Vanessa licked her lips. And then hesitated. She ached to be able to say the right thing, and to erase all of Kam's anxieties.

"If it were me," Vanessa tried, and brought what she hoped was a comforting hand up to squeeze Kam's shoulder. "I'd… Well, I don't know what I'd do."

Vanessa chanced a smile. It was a tender thing.

"But I'm glad you found him, and that he's safe," a pause, "Maybe he has amnesia. It could be that he just needs time. To remember, you know?"

This sort of thing happened all the time in the movies.

His hand was so big compared to hers. A blush rose to Vanessa's cheeks at once, and she struggled with a sudden, inexplicable urge to lean forwards and claim Kam's lips for a kiss. It wouldn't have been difficult to do, really.

Except for two things.
a) She had never kissed anyone of her own volition before. It was a simple concept, Vanessa knew, and if Kam were anyone else it would not have been such a big deal. But he was Kam. She felt sure that he'd kissed a lot of girls before, and wanted to BLOW HIS MIND. Maybe she'd talk Ian into practicing or something.
b) They were in public.

"I am right," Vanessa nodded after a moment, and marvelled that he'd gleamed so much from the things that she said.

'Wow,' she mused privately, proud of herself, 'I'm so much better at this than I thought!'

"You could try and help him remember," she offered softly, "the picture sounds like it was a good start."

There had to be other places from their mutual past that would spark some sort of memory.

It made Vanessa sad, to think that Kam had only one picture of his past. She wondered what it was, and why it had made it easier for Khal to recognize his brother. But she did not ask, because she suspected that it was probably very private.

Asking would just be rude.

If Kam wanted to show her, he would. It was as simple as that.

Vanessa sat thoughtfully, recalling the way the punching bag had felt in her hands under the raw power of his fists. She knew, now, what it was that had plagued him so and wondered if he didn't want more of a challenge.

Maybe a target that could hit back.

A mischievous smile lit up the young woman's face. She looped her arm under Kam's, whispered that she had an idea, and led the way to a set of nearby tumbling mats. They were soft, but firm under her feet. Vanessa tested them with her weight, decided that they were satisfactory, and then fished a pair of boxing gloves out of her bag.

They were old and well used, having once belonged to Mr. Rae, but they would do.

She put them on, fixed him with her golden stare, and then spoke.

"What're you waiting for?"

The smirk on her lips was an invitation. And maybe just a little bit cocky.

The haughty look on Kam's face made the butterflies in Vanessa's stomach surge into a new, electric sort of life. She was feeling a little bit sick again, but it was a good sort of uncomfortable. A good sort of awkwardness.

Vanessa's lips were blown wide with a grin the size of the moon. Hers had always been a vibrant, excitable sort of heart. It pounded a steady tattoo against her chest as she faced Kam for their boxing match now, and met his stare with her own. There was a challenging twinkle in her eye.

This was far from Vanessa's first fight. She was confident in her training, in the things that being a member of the Blood Moon Court had taught her, and assumed a mostly professional stance across from her opponent. There were some inconsistencies, some things that Ares wouldn't have approved of, but Vanessa could not see them.

Vanessa was skinny and small compared to Kam, but she was also Vulcan. And Vulcan was strong.

She waited as patiently as she could for his attack, reminding herself over and over again to go easy on him. And then, at last, he moved. Vanessa let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding in and easily blocked his half-hearted punch.

"I was born ready," she teased, playful, and jabbed at one of Kam's ribs with her fist.

The feel of her glove connecting with his body was incredibly satisfying. It wasn't the same as hitting an enemy, but fulfilling in its own right. There was a time, not so long ago, when Vanessa probably wouldn't have been able to hold her own against Kam on these mats.

She would have tried. Probably it wouldn't have been enough.

But dedication and mostly patient teachers had transformed Super Van from an eager, clumsy little amateur into an enthusiastic warrior with acceptable skill. Vanessa never took her eyes off of Kam and followed him as he circled her, pivoting slowly on the spot.

"Pfft," Vanessa's smirk widened, "I always fight fair."

Her lips twitched. She itched to strike out again, and had to force herself to remain in one place.

Sometimes the best offence was a good defence. Sometimes the best offence was a good defence. Sometimes the best-

Vanessa, unprepared, made a soft, slightly pained sound when Kam's fist connected with her lower body. It didn't feel nice, but she had known worse pain in her life, and powered through it in no time at all. She'd suspected he was holding back, before, and was excited now that they seemed to be getting down to business.

"Nice hit," the taunt on her voice was not Kam's imagination. Vanessa recovered quickly and planted her feet back on the ground. She faked another jab at Kam's ribcage, and then aimed a fist at his jaw.