Jake was not sure what time it was when his nightmare woke him up but he knew it would be awhile before he would be able to get back to sleep. Carefully getting out of bed so as not to wake Astra he walked to the window and looked out into the night. A movement a few doors down caught his attention and he saw a man get out of a plain, dark colored car and stretch. The man leaned back in the car, apparently talking to someone still within. Standing straight again the man looked toward Astra's building then walked off in the direction of an all night convenience store down the block.

"And you moved." Jake muttered under his breath staring at the retreating figure. He craned his neck to look back at Astra, her sleeping form artfully arranged on the bed. He soaked the image of her up, held it in his mind, so he might bring the image back out if he needed it. He reached over and grabbed his clothes as quietly as he could and crept into the kitchen. Pulling his clothes on he unlocked the door to the rear deck. After sliding the door open and closing it carefully he looked out over the 22 foot drop to the ground. Clenching his jaw in anticipation of the pain, he leapt from the balcony.

"Hurts. Every. Damned. Time!" he muttered as walked, the sprained and possibly torn ligaments in his right knee and ankle reknitting as he walked to the rear gate. He stopped and opened his shed, he kept some of his older tools and junk in there. Looking over his likely choices in improvised weapons, he settled on a nice and heavy wrench. Gripping it tightly, he opened the gate to the alley and poked his head out looking for voyeurs. Satisfied, he was unobserved, he broke into a measured run towards the end of the alley and the short jaywalk to the store intending to find out just who those suits were and what they knew about him.

The store was well lit and Jake knew the glare of lights on the large front windows would make it difficult for anyone inside to make out his identity if he kept to the shadows. Inside he could see the clerk laugh as he spoke with his only customer. As Jake watched the clerk came from behind the counter and made his way to where Jake could barely make out the fountain drink machines. Probably the guy who had been watching him decided to get some coffee and Jake knew from experience the clerk tried to never let coffee sit too long and at this time of night only made it at a customers request.

The man Jake assumed had been watching him was dressed in slacks and a pale blue button up, long sleeved shirt. At some point the man had loosened his collar and rolled up his sleeves and Jake could see that while not a body builder the guy was muscular.

Rubbing his thumb along the hard edge of the wrench, Jake paced like a caged lion as a pondered his move. Five steps right, twist, five steps left, and nearly all them with his eyes on the man in pretty boy blue. Chin-Hwa's coffee maker had produced the required two extra talls, and he was busy elaborating on the virtues of his mothers pecan sticky buns in hopes of increasing the sale. Five steps right, twist, five steps left and nearly all of them with his eyes on the man in pretty boy blue.

Cash was changing hands, Jake moved to the right hand side of the building, just beyond the enormous glass windows that fronted the building. He watched the man replace his wallet in his right rear pocket and pick up the sack of pastries along with the two extra talls. Jake sucked his teeth in anticipation, maybe it was something wrong with him: words he was no good with, but with violence he could be eloquent. He tightened his grip on the wrench as the man reached the door and prepared his footing for the sprint. Time this right and Chin-Hwa won't see a thing, the feral voice in his head planned.

The door opened. The man in pretty boy blue took one step, then two steps. Jake broke into a run. The man cleared the door and it began to close. Jake closed the distance. The man in pretty boy blue shifted the cups in his hand. Collision.

Hot coffee splashed down the front of Jake as he impacted with the man but Jake hardly noticed it. Inside Chin-Hwa caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye but the Jake's momentum had carried them beyond his view. Dismissing the movement as a reflection on the glass Chin-Hwa went back to the book he had been reading before the suit entered.

In the seconds later Jake quickly studied the man, looking for the faintest sign of recognition, the fuck its you look to pass across his eyes.

A single streetlight lit the side of the store where the two men finally stopped but it gave enough light for the man to see his attacker. Jake watched as the shock of his assault faded from the man's eyes and they widened in surprise. The man uttered only one word. "You!"

He wasn't really surprised at pretty boy blue's reaction, if anything it merely stoked his anger; he could feel it unwinding like a viper in his gut. Jake was a veteran of numerous brawls, none of them fought in a gentlemanly fashion, so he kept a eye out for a suddenly drawn weapon or other surprises as he closed, heavy wrench still in hand. "That's right," he hissed through is teeth, "who the fuck are you?"

Jake saw a brief something in the man's eyes that said he was going to reach for a weapon but it quickly changed to a look of resignation as the man answered. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm just the hired help."

The wrench wielding hand twitched as Jake fought down the urge to just shatter every bone in his face. Easy,the voice inside whispered. "Trouble found you, the answers you give tell me how long you'll need hospitalization... or not." he snarled the darkness lending sinister shadows to his already intense glare; the Look was in full force.

"First question, why are you watching me?" he spat and waited for blue boy to lie.

It appeared the man was not going to answer until he looked Jake in the eye and then looked at the wrench still in Jake's hand. He swallowed visibly, "To see if the rumors about you are true and if they are how dangerous you are."

That one was true. "Next question: what rumors?" he asked. He could smell the man's fear, it was acrid; almost as bad a Chin-Hwa's coffee. Still he wasn't going to take chances with this one, he was armed, and Jake had more than a few scared fucks attempt to avenge deflated egos through last minute heroics. Jake's reptilian fury really, really wanted him to try, or at least lie so he could hit him.

The man swallowed before answering, the fear evident on his face. "Some nutty shit about you being able to heal from just about anything."

Horrible, rotten truth again. Jake considered his options, most of which involved hitting the man with the wrench yet differed in the details of where and how many times. In the end though he settled on this one, although the choice made his inner beast howl in fury. "Nutty. Right man, just fucking crazy. You come messin' around my home, questioning my woman, and laying in wait like some fucking FBI agents because of some fantasy shit?" He voice raised and his arm twitched threatening over the prone man. Unbidden images flashed into his brain, darkness, the chair, and the needle. He closed his eyes for a second to banish the thought, beat it down into his subconscious.

The man forced a laugh, "Yeah, right it's nutty, but I had to see for myself." This time the man was lying.

The viper so long restrained lashed out and brought the wrench down on the man's face. There was a satisfying crunch as two of his teeth broke off, the jagged edges cutting through his lip. Jake was pulling it back for another blow when the guy spluttered through his broken mouth, "What the hell do you want?"

"You fucking well know what I want.' Jake snarled, "Who sent you, and why? Do not fucking lie to me!"

Jake thought the man was going to refuse to answer him but the fight seemed to have gone out of him. "Alright, alright. I work for a company called Genostar. They're interested in your abilities."

Jake had absolutely no fucking idea what Genostar was, but the simple fact they sent pretty boy blue and his unnamed bum-buddy to shake him down and pull an all night stakeout , meant that they were serious. "Listen real carefully..." Jake paused drawing him in fully, Jake's eyes burned, "I have no "abilities", I am not fucking worth your time. If I see you or your buddies around here, asking questions about me..." he let the last part go unsaid, but his hand twitched to finish the point. "Do you understand me, pretty boy?"

The man's eyes widened and he just nodded.

"Good." Jake said simply and stood up, but not before slamming his knee up under pretty boy blue's chin.

The wide eyes that had been staring at Jake rolled back in their sockets and the man slumped in his arms. Checking his pockets Jake found his wallet containing around seventy-five dollars in cash, a few pictures of a young girl around six years old, some credit cards, a driver's license in the name of Timothy Bellis and the guy's cellphone. Jake also found an Genostar employee id with the same name and the guy's picture and a pistol in shoulder holster.

"Heh." Jake grunted as he pulled out the pistol, he looked it over and checked its weight and action. Satisfied, he ejected the clip and snapped the bullet out of the chamber. Taking the cash and cellphone, Jake rose. "Stupid fuck." he muttered but it was uncertain if he meant the remark for the fallen man or himself.

A car pulling into the lot attracted his attention. Without a backwards glance Jake made his way closer to the side of the building, and smoothly tossed the unloaded gun onto the convenience store's flat roof. He waited until the woman in the leather skirt inserted her card in the machine to swiftly move out of the parking lot. Once he was reasonably certain she hadn't noticed him, he made his way back towards Astra's apartment using the alley.

He made his way up the alley at a half jog, a quick glance up showed the kitchen light was on in her apartment. He set his jaw as he imagined her sitting in a chair, cigarette in hand, waiting for him to come back with a cat that ate the canary look on her face. He could turn and make his way back right now, but that would leave unfinished business; pretty boy blue had a bum buddy. That needed looking into before he could face Astra.

So, Jake rounded the corner quickly and pulled back just in time to not be seen. Pretty boy blue's partner had exited the car and was looking up and down the street. Jake was sure he had not been seen but there was no way to reach the guy without stepping out in the open.

"Ah fuck it!" he snarled and walked out in to the street, his hands at his sides, with the wrench held loosely.

"I don't think Timmy won't be joining us for a while." Jake told him as he strode forward. Once again Jake's eyes simmered in anticipation of violence.

"You don't want to do anything stupid, Harker. How 'bout we sit down and have a nice conversation and no one gets hurt." The man showed no sign of being startled by Jake's appearance and if he was afraid he was keeping it well hidden.

"Conversation? Yeah, fucker we need to talk." Jake's forward momentum never slowed, he stalked up to his prey, body loose and ready. "Besides, stupid is something I seem to be good at tonight."

"You really don't want to do this, Harker. You may have abilities that make it difficult to take you down but what about Miss Starling? Can the same be said of her? Do you want to risk her being involved?" The man's reasonable tone had not changed even with the implied threat to Jake's girlfriend.

His knuckles whitened as he tightened is grip on his weapon, but Jake did not stop. The threat to Astra was the last fucking thing this asshole was going to do. Still, he wanted to know if his guy, the prick, had more friends. As he approached the man, Jake studied him and tried to find his center, the direction he was going to cut, when and not if, Jake started to beat him down.

If the suit was concerned about the wrench in Jake's hand he did not show it as he calmly watched Jake's approach. If anything the man appeared eager for a confrontation.

Jake got within inches of the man, locking eyes with him. "Which eye are you less partial to?' Jake asked with a snarl, "Because if you ever threaten my woman again, I will rip it out and eat it while you watch."

"Of that I have no doubt, Harker. That's all men like you know." By the easy way he stood and the tone of his voice it was impossible to tell he had just been threatened. "But, do you really think there aren't more where I came from? Do you think if you take me out of picture the next ones who are sent won't take precautions?"

Damn, the fucker has balls, Jake thought. Usually, you get in someone's face like this and they either fold or fight, this prick was cool as a cucumber. I am so going to kill him. The image of slamming the man's head through a window flared vividly into his mind; the animal rattled in its cage.

"What do you want." it was as much as command as a question as Jake did his absolute best to rein in the beast his heart had become. It wasn't time to kill him, yet.

"Your help." The man answered. "That is if the rumors we've heard about you are true."

"Your kind doesn't like people like me, remember? We scare you." Jake intoned muscles in his jaw clenching and unclenching. "Besides, I don't like you. Why the fuck do you think I would help you. Still imagining the pain he was going to put the man through.

He chanced a lie then, didn't matter if he pulled of off though, "And I only drive from my dime now, I don't courier anymore. So the rumors you heard. F-O-R-G-E-T about them."

Mister Cool actually laughed when Jake had finished. "Do you really believe I'd be sitting on your doorstep when I could be home fucking my wife over a damn courier job? You're either dumber than you look or you think I am, Harker. We both know what rumors I'm talking about and the sooner you admit it the easier things will go." A feral look crept into his eyes, "Unless you want to pick a fight you can't win. In which case I'd be more than happy to accommodate you."

Jake's frown deepened. What the fuck do I do now? began to repeat in his head. "You do look that dumb." he threw out just because, besides he wanted to piss the guy off. The guy seemed to think he could take him, which was possible, but Jake fully intended, if the shit went down that this prick would be crippled. "So you wanna have a go then, because we ain't having this..." Jake stretched for the unfamilar word, "conversation." As he talked Jake began planning his moves, where he was going to hit, where his body should be, and what avenues of attack did he want to restrict. Fighting was always something he was good at; this talking shit was getting old.

"If you really want to have a go at it, I won't complain. But you may want to let me give you a little demonstration before you decide." Jake got the impression the man wanted nothing more than a fight but was holding himself back.

That really got Jake's attention, did the prick have a talent? Ever the straight forward type, he managed a "You got moves? I've broken all sorts of punks that think because they know some MMA they are all badass." Jake twirled the wrench in his hand, getting a better grip. "or do you think you are something else?"

"I don't think I'm something else. I know I am." Was the man's answer.

He laughed, a nasty small laugh, as his eyes bored into the man, "Good one. Tell you what I think, if you were so badass you wouldn't be here, waiting for me to stop fucking Astra. You would've come on up and introduced yourself...all gentlemanlike. I think you are a pussy doing some douche's busywork. What do you think about that prick?"

"You won't provoke me, Harker." The man shook his head. "I've got things too easy to beat the crap out of a piece of shit like you. No matter how satisfying it might be."

Jake took a step backwards bringing his hands in line and his body into position. "Bring it bitch."

The man raised an eyebrow, "You're a real piece of work, Harker. Too stupid to know when to give up. Let me spell it out for you." He moved closer to Jake, careful not to touch him. "You're not going to get a fight out of me. Even though I'd love to kick your sorry ass."

Jake spat. "Thought so."

"What the fuck do you want Genostar guy." as he spoke the image of the chair and the needle came unbidden into his mind. "don't think about lying to me, Timmy did that. It got...messy."

A fleeting look of concern crossed the man's face before he answered Jake. "I told you. If the rumors about you are true Genostar wants your help."

"Dickhead, watch some fucking TV. Guys that want help, don't stake out a guy and threaten his girlfriend. They ask nicely and kiss ass."

"Consider yourself lucky you were even asked." Some of the guy's cool was beginning to slip.

"Yeah, Prick," he said as the beast in his belly retreated a bit from its bars. "Real lucky. I got work tomorrow, so say your peace, then I decide to either kill you or think about helping you. Either way I'm feeling all immorvincible tonight."

"If the rumors about you are true Genostar might have an opening for you on their security team. If not, we'll just go on our way and not bother you anymore." It was obvious he did not like the last option.

Time for more brainshock it seemed, most but not all of Jake's bloodlust evaporated with that. 

"Lemme see if I got this right, you want me to work with you? My..." he looked again at the man, hard judging him, fuck it, he knows, he thought and decided to finish the statement, '...ability, you want me because I can't die?"

"Then the rumors are true." The man nodded, "That's exactly why you're wanted Harker."

"Fine, whatever." Jake spat, doing his best to feign disinterest and well fear. "Later, I got work, we can deal with this later. Now get out of here and go collect your boy from the parking lot, he might need to see someone about a beatdown." Still unable to let the matter of a physical confrontation go, he added, "unless you still wanna have a go."

"I'm afraid we'll have to save that for another time. My employers want you in one piece." Without another word the man got behind the wheel of the car and started it. In moments he had pulled away from the curb and was headed toward the corner store, presumably to pick up his injured friend.

"Fuck!" Jake snarled as he glared at the retreating car, willing the frustrated fury to leave his limbs.  He snapped his eyes to the dim yellow light peeking out through the curtains of Astra's apartment.  With a sidelong glance at the retreating red glowing taillights, he strode forward and up the steps to her door; ready to face the music.

OOC: I am done, unless you want jake's get the f outta dodge in this post.