He hadn't been here for a while, but the place was familiar.

Marcus had come here when he'd first moved to the city, making friends with several of the masters. He'd even taken lessons, giving himself something to do, to keep him out of trouble.

After speaking with the master, he'd been allowed to use the training facility to teach Jane more hand to hand skills. Sure she knew how to shoot a gun, but he'd yet to see her take a man down without the aid of a weapon. She had some skills, he felt, but he wanted to know how well she could really fight.

He settled against one of the pillars, closing his eyes for a moment. He was in control, his hunger had been stated by a helpless man on the street. He was alive, again he'd left someone alive. Unusual as it was, the rougher part of him didn't care, and the part that was prevalent now was rather pleased with himself.

He'd told her to meet him at one, this way they would have time undisturbed. But there was still five minutes, so he could be patient.

JJ wiped sweat from her face, breathing heavily, as she hooked the bar back on the frame and sat up. She couldn't quite bench press her own weight yet, but that was her goal. For a little over a year now, JJ had been following a demanding, four times a week strength and conditioning regimen that featuring weight training and lots of running and swimming. She'd always been athletic, but now she was adding muscle as well. On top of that, she was taking hand to hand lessons with an ex-US Army instructor with training on both armed and unarmed close quarters fighting.

So, yeah, she was a little irked by Marc's seeming assumption that the only thing she knew how to handle was a gun. JJ liked using the gun because it was the only thing that gave her assured equal footing, but it wasn't like she'd grabbed the Ruger and hopped on her merry way. She was putting, literally, blood, sweat, and tears into this.

JJ knew how to handle herself, but the reality was that despite the twenty odd pounds of pure muscle she'd put on the last year and despite the bruising close combat lessons she was still a one-hundred and forty pound girl and she was going after men who had an easy hundred pounds on her.

She dropped the towel into one of the gym's hampers as she hit the showers, ran the water ice-cold to cool her down both physically and mentally. Marc wanted to "see what she could do" and she'd been chewing on that throughout the workout. It bothered her, both that he thought she was some mewling damsel in distress and that, in all likelihood, he probably would kick her ass if they sparred. She watched the cold water slick over her skin, where some bruises from the other night still lingered. Then she stepped out to towel off as she put on some fresh workout clothes, dragged a light jacket on top. It was a short walk to the Dojo and it would keep her muscles warmed up.

He heard her steps outside of the door a few yards away. Smiling slightly he stood and moved to the door.

"Good morning little one." He said with a smirk.

He knew the girl didn't care too much for this. But if she wasn't confident enough of her hand-to-hand skills to use them... Well she might as well haven't had any. And even if she had formated combat skills, she didn't know how to adjust them for street fighting. And that was what she really needed. What he wanted to make sure she could do. Knowing how to fight was just as important as, if not more so than, having the physical abilities.

But there were also some other things he wanted to teach her. Stealth was always handy, and though he didn't have to try to be silent, maybe she would be able to learn how.

"I hope you didn't wear yourself out before coming here. You're going to need your energy here too you know."

JJ lifted an eyebrow at Marc. He appeared to have been waiting for her. Though the nickname he used irritated her, she was perhaps three inches shorter than he was, she had decided that was precisely why he used it. She dropped her bag beside the door. "I'll be fine," she replied as he questioned her endurance.

She held herself loosely as she watched him, unsure of where exactly he was going with this. Also, she imagined he would be trying to catch her off guard and surprise her. Jonas, her hand to hand instructor, had a penchant for doing just that. It was a remarkably effective technique, making the point that without constant alertness (and sometimes even with) one could be dead in a second. JJ would be lying if she said she enjoyed being caught in a chokehold when she least expected it, but she had to admit it kept her on her toes.

"You say that now, but we'll see about in a couple of hours, won't we?" He grinned.

"But anyway, you say you've had hand-to-hand training, and that you know how to fight. But after that first night I saw you... I have a feeling you don't really know how to fight, even if you have the skills. So that's really what I want to teach you." He said.

"But street fighting is more... Just knowing what to do in certain situations." He gave a little shrug as he moved towards a matted floor in a small room. "How you can either hurt or escape from someone depends on how they've got you and you have to simply find the weak points." He looked back at her.

"But that is harder than it sounds."

JJ followed lightly, still not entirely sure what he had in mind. Who knew? From what she'd seen, what was in his mind was prone to changing. "I said that I am taking close quarters combat lessons," she corrected, "not that I know how to fight. I'm learning." She frowned as he spoke about street-fighting as being different. "I'm not taking self-defense classes, Marc, or those watered down karate classes that are meant to keep you in shape, not to actually show you how to fight."

Most classes she'd found had been just that--aimed at young children or paunchy adults looking to get into shape. Those "martial arts" were meant to look pretty. JJ had had to search for some time before finding an instructor who taught the gritty kind of personal combat, the kind where your aim was to neutralize a threat by any means possible, not to be graceful and hit the flying swan pose or whatever. She lifted one shoulder, dropped it again. "I'm not particularly good yet, but that doesn't mean I'm not working at it."

"Well good. Because I don't want someone to teach you how to fight only to forget to teach you how to survive, which is what you really need." Grinning he turned on her, much as he had the night before. But this time he slammed her face first against the padded wall, one arm twisted behind her back.

He wasn't rough, but nor was he gentle. He had to get her to work here after all. As much as he might want play time, this was not the moment.

"So..." He shifted a little, leaving his left side weaker ever so slightly, so if she tried she could twist out. Thought it would take some effort. "How would you get away from me... Well if you really really wanted to anyway." The grin on his face almost visible in his voice.

He moved faster than she had ever seen anyone move and had her pinned face-first to the wall before she could even try to block his lunge. She slammed into the padded wall hard enough to knock the breath out of her and pain shot through her shoulder as he twisted her right arm behind her back. JJ ignored it.

Rather than respond as he began to speak, she jabbed her left elbow straight back into where the sensitive bundle of nerves in his solar plexus should have been. At the same time she twisted. Unable to get any leverage against the wall, she brought her right foot back instead. JJ didn't aim for his crotch, which was too awkward of a move in her current position and the target in question harder to hit than movies made it out to be, but for his knee. The strike with her elbow on the opposite side helped her shift her balance to the left, giving her greater force behind the kick.

The blow didn't stun him or hurt him, but he knew what would have been expected so he relaxed slightly. She twisted out, using her footing for leverage and as she stood, now facing him.

"Good." He nodded. "That'll do to get you away certainly, and enough to know for now, but there are other things you could do." He said.

"How you moved your foot, you could always try to hook it around your captors. Since you have the wall, you won't have to worry about looking your balance as you move your foot." He instructed. "Try again." And again she was against the wall, though he hadn't been as hard as before.

JJ her breath puffed out as she was jammed against the wall again, though more from the pain that seared through her shoulder than the actual impact. Gritting her teeth, she tried what he had said, hooking her foot around his ankle and drawing it forward. Reaching back again with her good arm, she grabbed his hair, yanking his head down just as she brought her shoulder up. It twisted her right shoulder even more, but with his balance interrupted, it was effective.

She let go. "Kicking at you instead of trying to catch your ankle would knock you away, while the other brings you closer to me." JJ didn't have the size to spend much time grappling with an opponent. Keeping them at arm's length if possible would be better.

As he ended on the floor he nodded smiling ever so slightly up at her. "Good, a little jerky, but not bad." He said as he sat up, leaning an elbow on his knee.

He nodded again though as she talked about the distance. "True. But here, the goal isn't to test your endurance against the other person's. It's to disable them or kill them, your choice of course, as quick as possible. No one's judging you on technique or style on the street. No one's going to disqualify you for 'illegal blows'. However, I will be royally pissed if you try a nut shot with me here while training. Understood?" He said as he got back to his feet.

"If you can get your opponent to he ground, this would be a time to go for the kill if you are able. That's why I recommended tripping rather than kicking. But if you've lost your weapon, or need time to set it up or get it from wherever, kicking would be fine too."

JJ frowned again as he told her not to worry about illegal blows or technique or style. "I know that," she said mildly, rocking back a little on the balls of her feet when he got to his. "I told you before, I'm not trying to learn those types of martial arts. The kick before was meant to break your knee, or at least wrench it bad enough to knock you down," she said briskly, though she didn't mean she had actually wanted to break his knee.

"If it had worked, I would have accomplished both what I wanted and what you want. Disable and keep at a slight distance. Effective and efficient," a ghost of a smile appeared for a moment before sliding away as she quoted one of Jonas' favored lines. Be efficient and be effective, if you can accomplish in one move what might take you two moves, then use the one. It kept you on the edge, instead of simply reacting.

JJ shrugged a little. "Whatever works." That was another one of Jonas' sayings. Go with whatever worked and fuck everything else.

"Good, I'm just making sure." He said casually. "I'm hoping if I say it enough you'll come to use it. Just not against me of course." He gave her a little wink.

"But just remember, there are people out there who aren't going to be stopped by bullets, aren't going to be hampered by broken limbs or anything like that." He warned. "In that case... You have two options really. And knowing you, you'll probably like neither of them." He grimaced.

He pushed her against the wall again, one arm over her chest and upper arms, the other holding her chin up, exposing her neck. "See if you can get away..." He growled. But this time there was no give in his body, no slack anywhere. His muscles were tense and hard.

JJ grunted as she was, once again, pinned against the wall. "I'm chasing bionic people now?" she asked as he warned that there would be people who were pretty much unstoppable. Even addicts flying on PCP were stopped by a large-caliber to the chest. Or knee.

In her current position, there really wasn't that much that she could do. She could only move her arms from the elbow down and his knee was blocking what he had so eloquently termed a nut shot. Considering for a moment, she brought her head forward, stopping a hairsbreadth from letting her forehead connect with his nose.

"It would hurt me and wouldn't kill you, but it might give me a little room," she said conversationally as she leaned her head back again.

He shrugged and let her go as she gave him the imaginary headbutt.

"Fair enough." He said with a bit of a grin.

"But that won't stop them for long either. I'm just warning you because I don't want you to piss them off too much. If you find yourself facing a foe like that, either run, which might not help keep you alive. Or just give them what they want, but again, that might not leave you alive."

She probably wouldn't believe him... She was too sensible to believe in vampires, ghosts and spooks...

"Just a warning."

But he decided to move on. "What else do you think you need work on? What do yo think your weak points are?"

"I don't have a death wish," JJ said evenly as he let her go. "Trust me, I go into every engagement with coming back out on the top of my list." She rubbed absently at her shoulder, which ached slightly. Death was coming for everybody, eventually, but that didn't mean she was running towards it with her arms open.

JJ thought for a moment as he asked her what she thought her weaknesses were. "My footwork breaks down when my opponent gets to close. And I'm not great at grappling," she said at last. At this point, she was almost like a boxer, good when she could throw punches from arm's length, but not so good when she got into a clinch.

"Some people don't care if you want to die or not. You of all people should know that." Admittedly he was surprised that she hadn't come in contact with vampires already... Maybe she would be lucky. But then again when it seemed as if a tenth of the population was vampires... She would run into another one eventually. He probably wasn't going to like it much when she did either.

"Close quarters combat?" He grimaced slightly. "Well I don't know how much I can help you. I want to but... Sheer size difference would make it hard to practice that. Even though you'd be fighting people my size, it's easier to learn techniques with someone your own size..." But it would be hard to find someone who could do that... Hard to find someone the right size who could teach her how to fight...

"I'll contemplate that later... But is there anything else? Or shall I try to figure out what to do to with the grappling?"

JJ merely shrugged as he warned her of those who would kill her without a moment's thought or care, though the nonchalant gesture wasn't meant to be such. Indeed, she knew well that there were those out there who didn't care at all if she lived or died. "Then it's up to me to make sure someone does, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically.

She smiled a little as he hesitated, a little more warmth to it than in her usual, vaguely satirical smiles. "Others won't be quite so accommodating," she pointed out, "and damned if I'm going to limit myself to going after the short, weak scum of the Earth." JJ spread her fingers, gripped an imaginary knife, "Or I could always work on weapons training." She grimaced a little as she remembered how easily Manny had disarmed her.

If Jonas had seen that, he'd have probably kicked her butt right out of the city. It was something she didn't want to happen again.

"Weapons? I assume you mean knives or something similar?" He said as he turned. He moved to a small shelf along the wall and grabbed a small wooded practice 'knife' object that was a little bit longer than his hand.

"Would you prefer practicing staying armed? Or would you rather try to disarm me? I'm sure both will be useful, but which one would you like to start off with?" Because they'd work on one and then get to the grappling. He'd figure something out while they were practicing, after all his mind could concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

"Because we'll do one tonight I guess then go to grappling for the rest of the night. And maybe into the morning too..." He grinned wickedly at his suggestion.

JJ offered a half nod, half shrug at Marc's question. "I want to stay armed with whatever I may be using, but I think knife work would probably be the most beneficial. I can hang onto both my knives and guns pretty well, I'm just not sure if I'm using them in the most efficient manner." She looked at the wooden knife he came up with, and nodded again. "That's about the size of one I use," JJ said, holding her hand out to toss it to her so she could test the weight.

As he asked her about whether she wanted to try staying armed or disarming others, she paused for a moment to consider. "Both, really... Might as well try to keep my hand on the weapon and use it most effectively," she decided.

JJ raised an eyebrow at his suggestion. Boys will be boys, oh yes they will, she thought, amused. "Bad puns already?"

"Or Just bad suggestions I suppose." He gave a little shrug. Okay, so maybe she wasn't into him like he thought she was. Well... She had just needed to get a fix of sorts, and well, though she hadn't cared when he only held back the smallest portions of himself, he wasn't sure if he should do that to her again. But if he didn't... She'd accuse him of holding back.

"Well, let's just get on with training. Let me know when you want to stop. I don't wear our easily, so let me know when you need a break or you want to stop." Marcus told her.

With that they continued their training, their practice back and forth, holding the knife, trying to keep it and trying to make the other person lose it. Of course he wanted to use his full strength, but that wouldn't get either of them anywhere. He scoped out the places when he knew where she was going, just to make sure their weren't vampires, so that would really take care of those kinds of problems.

Forty-five minutes later, he'd just disarmed her, pinning her face first against the wall.

"Better than before I'd have to say. Took me longer than last time." He said with a grin, leaning his head down to press his face lightly against her hair. He could smell the sweat on her, and it was delicious. "You want to keep going?" Marcus asked as he stepped away, letting her go.

She could tell he was a little discomfited by the lack of enthusiasm in her response, but JJ wasn't sure what to do about that. It wasn't that she had any problem with Marc, or with having sex with him, but she also didn't want to spend a day limping around paying the price for the small release it brought.

Lifting an eyebrow, something she did a lot and to convey many different wordless responses, JJ caught the knife. "I don't wear out easily either," she replied, as she flipped the knife in her fingers.

Maybe she didn't, but she wasn't bionic, as he apparently was. It was frustrating. JJ was in excellent condition; although she wasn't very muscular (yet) but she had been doing stamina-building training since she had been in fifth grade. And yet, she was feeling the burn in her muscles and he was still a grinning fool.

As she was slammed face-first into the wall, yet again, she gritted her teeth, swiped at sweat, and grabbed the wooden practice knife again as he backed off. JJ could feel the irritation, though her expression remained focused. Rather than fight it, she used it, first crouching low then lunging into a high, spinning kick to his shoulder to knock him off balance. She was, or had been, a sprinter and had strong legs. Using her momentum, she brought the knife in from the side, low and fast, right at his ribs.

He was able to doge the kick that came as an answer to his question and chuckled as he did so. It was rather amusing, and that spirit that she had was probably why the other part of him wasn't really in the mood to kill her. He wanted to play with her train her to be an even more entertaining toy and partner.

An interactive toy?

The thought made him want to laugh, but her sarm was swinging up to his side rather quick.

Marcus blocked however, her wrist hitting his forearm. Tunring quickly he grabbed her arm so that she couldn't try anything else, at least with that arm.

"That's an answer of sorts little one." he said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "But it's getting late and you seem to be getting tired. You're not moving as fast as you were before." Ah, so what if that wasn't exactly true. He didn't want to wear her out so that she'd fall asleep here on on the way home.

JJ was no sloth. She moved fast. And he still moved faster. Frustration wasn't quite the word. He didn't get tired, she almost never landed one of her strikes and, if she got close, it wasn't a square hit. He was like Mohammad fricking Ali, with butterfly feet and bee-sting hands.

As he blocked the knife blow at his ribs and caught her wrist, a lightning strike of pain shot from her shoulder to her fingertips and back again. She immediately grimaced, the wooden knife dropping from her suddenly nerveless fingers. JJ recovered quickly, her face clearing as she pulled her wrist from his grip, though her arm still seemed to hang a little awkwardly after she did so.

"I'm fine," JJ objected automatically when he suggested ending their little training session.

He caught the grimace, but thought he imagined it. But then... the knife didn't fall from her hand just because he caught her. She'd been holding on to it well the entire time.

Marcus didn't resist even slightly as she pulled her arm away from him.

"Fine? It doesn't look that way to me." He said with a frown. There was an anger that was building in the other part of him, but he couldn't figure out why...

The training, the time he was spending with her, seemed to be helping him as well... Around her, it seemed as if both sides could exist. He didn't have to fight all the time. And now... Now he could sense that his other side knew something that he didn't... Something that maybe he was trying to ignore.

The way she held her arms different, the one he'd been twisting just about all night was awkward.

He felt the rage spike and growled lowly. "Damnit...." He muttered to himself as the puzzles clicked together a little slower than they should have. "Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you Jane!" He sounded angry, but he wasn't yelling at her. After all, he was the stupid one. He was the one who'd hurt her.

"I told you I'm fine!" JJ snapped back at Marcus, some of her frustration leaking into her voice. It was bubbling up inside, almost thickening into anger. Deliberately, she clamped down on it before frustration turned into real temper. She wasn't irritated so much at Marc as she was at herself for ignoring the warning signs, for pushing it. Pride had always been her downfall because her pride was always so sly, sneaking up on her before she realized she was being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. Like now.

She rotated her elbow, felt the shock of pain travel first from shoulder to elbow and then edge down towards her wrist. "I didn't tell you because you'd pull on your mother hen suit," JJ retorted, her tone back to its usual, preternatural calm. "Who kept trying to hammer home the fact that I need to be able to handle myself? I get into a fistfight in an alley, I don't think they're going to go easy on me because of my arm."

Still, JJ was irritated at herself. She knew from prior experience that her arm wasn't going to be full strength for a couple of days now and that was going to throw her training schedule out of whack. Hanging the knife back on the wall, she picked up her light workout jacket, eased her right arm into it first and then the left. "I'm going home." She needed to ice it, get started on some of the rehab exercises. Damn.

"Cut the bullshit Jane!" He snapped, glaring at her. She'd never mentioned a word about an old injury, never even gave a sign that something was bothering her. Sure she was strong, but no one was perfect.

"You should have told me! I wouldn't have taken it easy on you, I would have just moved on to something else for tonight if I knew that was bothering you!" He pointed out. "There were other things I could have done to help you train. And by letting your body get hurt like this, you're only making it worse and you know it! That's why you're so pissed right now, not because you think I'd mother you." Well, that was just his best guess anyway, he couldn't be sure because he wasn't particularly blessed with telepathy.

"Yeah, they might not take it easy, but they also wouldn't be working the same arm over and over again without rest." He pointed out. He grabbed her by the back of her jacket collar to stop her from leaving. "Let me turn off the alarm first will you? One of the guys knows I'm coming here, but I would prefer if the cops didn't know. And I think my place is closer if you want to ice your shoulder sooner." He offered, letting her go and moving to a small panel across the hall.

JJ envisioned slamming her fist into the wall, bleeding off just a little of the anger that always seemed to form a knot between her shoulder blades. But, no. Instead, she took a deep breath and let it out. "You didn't think I was ready to move on until you found out about my shoulder," she pointed out. "It's just a flare-up. It happens. I deal," she continued flatly, business-like even. "OK, yes, I'm irritated. I ignored some warning signs. It happens," JJ repeated, turning to face him as he caught her by the collar, "And, as it just so happens, you're wrong. This is exactly how I thought you'd react. I don't need a lecture."

After everything she'd been through, she had a pretty good knowledge of what she was suposed to do and not do. Do the right exercises, build up some of the strength in her rotator cuff, don't stress it if it started acting up. Her right arm was always going to be weaker than her left, though, and sometimes her pride made her push it. Well, fuck, she was entitled to some pride, the way she figured it.

She sighed and shoved at some of the reddish hair that had worked it's way loose from her stubby ponytail as he offered his apartment, wondered if that was an invitation to do more than ice her arm. "Look, I'm tired, Marc, and I've got some errands and whatnot to run. I'd rather just go home."

Shaking his head Marc looked away, having trouble looking at her. What was he doing wrong? Why did she seem to be so damn stubborn? Was it really his fault, was he trying to hard?

He sighed and moved towards her again after setting the alarm. He put an arm around her waist and pulled her close for a second before they headed out.

"You still don't trust me do you?" He said softly. "Just because someone hurt you... Doesn't mean we're all like that JJ." His voice was flat. "I worry about you. What's so wrong with that? You're the first reason to enjoy life that I've found in a while. In a long time actually. I've been hurt too. Not as bad as you I know. But I know what it's like to feel alone, feel like there's no one that you can turn to. I-" But having the feeling that it wasn't helping he shut up, and where he had been walking rather close to her he was now a few feet away.

Why couldn't he say anything right? Or do anything right.

JJ stiffened, not as he put his arm around her, but as he spoke. She bristled at his comments, figuratively speaking of course, though the intent observer might have claimed that the air around her really did chill a little. "I'm not as simple as you make it sound, Marcus," JJ said coolly, turning just slightly to fix her steady, passionless gaze on him. "Is that really what you think? JJ got fucked and now she doesn't trust men?"

Sucking air in through her nose, she shifted her gaze again. "Because that's insulting." Rotating her arm at the elbow again to keep it from stiffening up, JJ rubbed her left hand over her face. "I don't mind being worried about, but lectures are another kettle of fish entirely. I've been living on my own for about a year now and I know when I screw up. I don't need any instruction in that area."

She fell silent. This was part of why she tended to keep to herself. Throw people in the mix and you were always explaining yourself or having to talk or whatever. People were fine, but JJ wasn't sure about how to handle them. This people, she thought to herself as she felt Marc move away, in particular. JJ rubbed her hand over her face again. She was thinking in bad grammar. Must be tired.

"Yes, that's what I think, and I don't really blame you for it either. After what happened to me, it's been hard for me to really trust women. Yeah I'll still be around them. I'll be nice to them and be kind of like friends...." He shrugged. "But it's been hard for me to really get close to a woman, to trust her and..." He stopped, as he figured that he'd probably just stick his foot in his mouth for the umpteenth time.

He wanted to give her the strength that he had... If he turned her, made her a vampire too, he'd never have to worry about her again, not with humans anyway. He'd never have to worry about her being hurt, about her getting killed.

"J... I'm sorry... I know I'm acting like an idiot... But I can't seem to help it around you. When I see that you could get hurt... I can't help but go a little crazy wanting to protect you. When you are hurt, and it doesn't matter if it's physical or not... I want to make it go away... Make you happy." He didn't even look at her as he spoke, not sure if he wanted to see her expression. Yeah yeah... This was a bad idea, but he had to do it. "I've only seen you smile once. I like seeing it. Is that so bad? To want to see you happy?"

He looked up, over at her now. "Is it wrong to want to see you smile?"

Rubbing her hands over her face again, JJ wondered if men were divided into two categories: the ones who wanted a nice roll in the hay before they split and the ones who built castles in the sky. She really, really hoped Marc was neither, but especially that he wasn't the latter. It wasn't that she didn't like him, she mostly just found him baffling, but she didn't want him setting his heart out for her either. She'd probably step on it somehow and he didn't seem like a bad guy. Just confusing.

People, JJ thought again, she just didn't understand other people. Nothing wrong with them; she was sure the problem was on her end. In this case... well, he came on a little strong, that was all. How could she make him see that she didn't want--or need--protecting? She didn't need someone standing in front of her trying to guard her from the ills of the world or putting Band-Aids on her hurts. "Look," JJ said at last, trying to find the line between blunt and tactful, "I think it's nice to have someone worry about me, want to protect me and whatall. A little annoying, yeah, but not all together bad. I guess..." She sighed, stuffed her hands in her pockets before continuing, "I'm not used to it," she finished after a moment's pause.

"Well..." That one little word was hopeful, he smiled slightly. "Maybe... Maybe you could get use to it. I mean... The world has to seem a bit better when you know there's someone you can count on... Right?"

But that was stupid... Trying to make her change the way she was...

"And... And maybe I can learn to relax a little too. I mean you've done an okay job at taking care of yourself so far. But there's a whole other side to things that... That you wouldn't be able to save yourself from." He trailed off, not knowing how much he could really say about that.

She would make a good vampire, but... But would he really want to do to her what had been done to him? No... No he wouldn't do the same thing. He'd never leave her alone. He'd never make her kill someone she loved, someone who didn't deserve it.

"Remember how I said before that... That I was dangerous? That I wasn't always myself?" He asked, looking up at her again.

A slight line appeared between JJ's eyebrows as she thought about what Marcus said. Was that really how she came off to others--cold and untrusting as she peered out at the world with wary eyes? There were some that she trusted. They weren't necessarily her friends but she trusted them. Some she trusted completely, having literally put her life in their hands. She pondered it for a moment before shrugging it off. So be it.

She didn't say anything as Marc continued. Well, yeah, there were always things that you couldn't protect yourself from. The drunk driver who ran a red light, the bolt of lightning that sliced out of the sky, the psychotic with a gun, and so on and so forth. That was part of the package called life. Unpredictability made it precious.

"Yeah, I remember," JJ replied, her tone slipping back into that curious neutrality that was its norm. At the time, she remembered, she'd thought he'd simply been being melodramatic. Now, she still wasn't entirely sure she believed otherwise. If you lost control of your self, what else was there? If the body could act independently from the brain, did that mean that blame evaporated?

"Well... I wanted to thank you. Because being around you... I don't know what it is, but you seem to act like a magnet... or glue or something. You keep me together, keep me in my right mind and help me be myself." He said quietly.

"I know my control's still not perfect, I don't know if it will ever be. But since I've met you, it's been easier. Like something you do pulls them together, kicking and screaming maybe," He couldn't help but grin. "but I don't feel like I'm going crazy anymore."

"I know that it sounds like that gooey 'you complete me' crap, but that's not what I'm trying to say. Not even remotely. Well, because it never felt like I was missing something, but like I've been split in two. You've been able to figure out how the puzzle pieces go together I guess... Sorry, I'll shut up now." He muttered the last part, pretty sure that she wouldn't like what he was saying.

JJ wasn't quite sure what to think. On the one hand, it seemed to be a compliment. On the other, if it was, it was certainly the oddest compliment she'd ever been paid. Not that that meant much, considering most compliments she'd been given were along the lines of "nice tits". But that was neither here nor there.

"Well..." she began, then trailed off, unsure of how exactly to respond. In all honestly, a gooey "you complete me" would have been easier to deal with--a quick brush off. "That's about the most unusual compliment I've ever gotten," JJ said at last, almost unnerved.

So, did that explain his odd, near-obsessive fixation on her? Not some archaic "chivalric" desire to keep her safe while she pursued her very odd hobby, but a desire to be around her and keep drawing on... her calm? JJ supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. She was using him as a means to an end as well. "I wouldn't grow to depend on it," she said, her voice a degree away from indifference.

If there was something about her that acted like a... glue, well, who was she to object? It was, in all likelihood, a product of some raging dopamine or serotonin in his brain though.

Marcus smiled grimly. "I... I know. It's strange, but true." He said as he looked away.

But his look became even more pained as she said not to get too attached to it. A part of him thought that it was too late already. That if he lost her, he'd just snap back to the monster he was before. Before even than most of his control was learned.

"I... I know. Dependency isn't usually good. Because whatever you've grown used to can just go away. Then what do you have?" He muttered.

"But it's the truth J. I'm sure you've had to notice it. That I haven't been as aggressive, even with you. I mean, I almost killed you the first time we had sex, couldn't be to close to you without wanting to snap your neck." He admitted. Sure it might scare her, but he didn't care right now.

"Now though. I just want to be near you. To smell you, touch you..." He reached out a hand to brush her hair. "I know you probably think this is all stupid, obsessive and probably even creepy. But I just have to tell you, and...." He cut himself off again, figuring like before, he was about to start rambling. There had to be some way he could stop talking like an idiot. Maybe he'd have to learn that. A new kind of control.

Oh well.

It wasn't the stuff romance novels were made of, JJ thought wryly as Marcus stumbled along through his little speech. It was more like he was admitting an addiction to an antidepressant than anything else. "Look, Marc," she began, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers, "I think, maybe..." JJ trailed off, then admitted, "I don't know what you expect me to say, or what I should say."

She turned to face him. "I'm glad you're getting better control of your... impulses." That was something truthful, at least. "But, yeah, it does kind of sound a bit, well, stalkerish. I'm pretty sure you don't mean to, though, so... yeah." What did he want from her? An admission that she felt the same way? Because then she'd be lying and she didn't want to do that. Didn't want to hurt his feelings either, but there you go. Rock, meet hard place, this is JJ in the middle.

"Anyway, this is my building," JJ gestured vaguely, though more to just say something than to actually point out her building. "I'll see you later, OK?" Waiting just a beat, she turned up the steps and inside.

If there was a theme of the day, she supposed it would be that she just didn't get people. She sighed, blowing a dark red lock of hair out of her face, then stripped out of her jacket and shirt as she headed into the kitchen for an icepack.

"You don't have to say anything JJ. Really." He tried to assure her. But he knew it had failed when she said he sounded rather much like a stalker.

"I'm sorry... I don't mean to come off that way. I don't. I just wanted to thank you really. Let you know. I don't expect you to love me or care about me more than you would someone else that you see on occasions. I would hope that you trust me more than some random person, but I don't even really expect that." He shrugged. He was a little hurt by cool nature, the way she seemed to pull away from him.

Well there you go, the reason why he should probably just stop trying.

Which was why when she turned to leave, he wanted to ask if she needed any help but he didn't. She would just say no and it would just make him look like a stalker again probably.

The people above her apartment were sound asleep, and so he sat on the balcony outside their dining room. He just wanted to be closer to her, but she wouldn't want that. He'd stay here as long as he could though, just to make sure she was safe. Well no human would really be plotting at this hour, and no vampires seemed to want to kill her, so it was really useless for him to be here.

But it made him feel better. Maybe once she fell asleep, he could get closer. But until then... He'd have to be patient.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror in just her bra as she wound the sling-like icepack onto her shoulder (hello, awkward), JJ paused in mid-wind as she stared at her reflection. What did he see in her? She touched a cold fingertip to her cheek. Her face had been mostly spared from Nick's beatings--too hard to explain how his little sister always had a black eye after spending the day with him. He'd broken her nose once. JJ ran her finger over it. It had healed fairly well, though, hardly visible now.

Her torso was a different story altogether. JJ traced the scars that ran over her ribs, across her stomach. "Broken ribs, maybe a collapsed lung. Stomach sounds are muted. One, two, three!" She could have sworn she heard the echoes, the ghosts of emergency room doctors past. However normal she looked and sounded, beneath the scars she was a mess. No more spleen, ribs all gnarled, her rotator cuff almost completely rebuilt.

What did Marc want from her? She'd been broken in pretty much every way a person could be broken and still be breathing.

She turned away from the mirror and finished her wrap. Self-pity was a slippery slope and she had no desire to start sliding down. JJ knew well that there was no changing the past, just futility.