All the time she had to spent resisting the pain left Hayley mentally and physically exhausted. When Isaac, in his many bouts of prudishness, decided to get her some water, all she could do was watch as he left, then muttered, "The hell are you apologizing for...?" Curious about her own state, she gingerly moved her toes and fingers to confirm that she still had all four limbs intact. Even though it hurt to move the toes connected to her injured leg, she was relieved to know that she could potentially recover, but given the extent of her injuries, she realized that she was looking at months of house rest and general struggle and there was no guarantee she would actually fully recover. "Great..." she groaned and sighed, letting her head rest against the pillow.

A minute later, Isaac returns, along with a cup of water and one of the chairs from the kitchen, which he sets up next to her bed. Sitting down, he leans forward and, knowing she'd most likely be too tired to do so herself, helps her take a drink from the cup. Setting it down on the table, he rests his elbows on his knees and says, "I hope I did a good job...Honestly, I didn't even know what I was doing half the time...Are you alright, all things considered?"

"I can still feel my fingers and I'm still breathing, so maybe I'm okay..." Hayley replied with a mellow, but light-hearted tone, disliking the glum look on Isaac's face. "The question is whether or not I would be able to do the same things I could before this when I finally recovered, but I'm not too worried about that." Taking a deep breath, she felt the pain dull and ebb away temporarily as she relaxed her body on the bed. The blonde looked at her raven-haired savior and said, "So... I assume you've got a buttload of questions to ask."

Isaac meets Hayley's steely-blue gaze and sees the tiredness in her eyes. Even though he would rather let her rest, he can't argue the fact that he does indeed have a 'buttload of questions.' Nodding slowly, he says, "Yeah, I do." After taking a few minutes to get his thoughts in order, he decides to start by asking, "Who was that woman, the one with the wings and the light powers? And who does she work for?"

Hayley sighed and quietly gathered the information she had on her. Meeting Isaac's gaze, she answered his questions, "There are several parties with stakes in the fight arena and their 'investment' is what keeps the arena going and what pays the fighter, including me. One of them is the Medicis, a big mafia family in this city and one of the underground criminal leaders. I don't know if you've come across the likes of 'em in the past. They are a criminal organization with a rigid hierarchy and they don't mess around. Once they want you dead, even their dogs would rip you apart."

Taking a deep breath to pause herself, the blonde then continued, "That bitch you fought? She's Arlia Medici, one of the many capos, or captains, if you will, that works for the Medicis. She's the big boss' baby girl and handles all these illegal fights for money. I've heard stories saying that the entire family was jacked up financially, but never would it cross my mind that the fucking bitch was a powered person too."

Isaac nods thoughtfully before saying, "I see. She's pretty skilled, no doubt she's had those powers of hers for a long time, if not from birth." All I know is that I wanna fight her again! Vincent says. I never fought anyone like that, before. Nothing like the rush you get when you aren't sure if you're gonna come out on top! Ignoring him, Isaac then asks, "Just how big is this Medici family? Do they run the city or answer to some other family?"

"As far as I know, they run the city. Some of the politicians are the Medicis' meat puppets. They run the house from gambling, money laundering to food smuggling," Hayley replied, biting her lip as she recalled the extent of her involvement on their many operations. "The head honcho of the arena answers directly to Angel McBitch and I've been taking in a little of that blood money for a living," she bitterly admitted.

"You've been doing what you could to survive," Isaac says, reaching over and resting his hand on Hayley's. "No one can blame you for that, even though that money was originally obtained through evil means." He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze before he rises to his feet. Smiling down at her, he says, "I'm gonna let you rest, now. Let me know when and what you wanna eat and I'll have it made for you." That said, he turns around and leaves Hayley's room, slightly happy that circumstances brought them back together, but upset that Hayley had to get hurt for it to happen.

As Isaac's form disappeared behind the door, Hayley sighed with relief and glanced at her hand, still feeling the remnants of warmth from his skin. Until the warmth faded away she continued staring at it for a brief, silent moment. "Eh, fuck it..." she tiredly murmured and let fatigue give way to slumber. She sorely needed it, especially after all she had gone through. As her mind retreated to sleep, she quietly thought of how glad she was to have Isaac around despite their rocky relationship and her unfortunate circumstances.

A few months later, Isaac was still living with Hayley, mainly to help her recover, and they haven't seen hide nor tail of the Medici's. However, he knows better than to let his guard down, just in case they decided to show up. While it was the right thing to do, helping out a friend in need, he realizes that he was also helping her out of the guilt he felt for not being able to keep her from getting hurt. Plus, there was also the fact that he couldn't help but feel closer to her as time passed, even though their reunion was soured by Arlia and her goons. That morning, he had just finished making breakfast. Turning around, he says, "Alright, Hayley, food's ready!"

"Gimme five!" Hayley shouted from her bedroom as she put her clothes back on. The past few months had been spent on her recovery. While she had not been able to move about as freely as she did before, and she believed that she's crippled for good, she was quite happy to finally ditch the crutches Isaac made for her. The time she had spent being mostly immobile had left her muscles weakened from the lack of heavy exercise she normally did, but she didn't care about her physical form as much as their own well-being. Carefully making her way into the kitchen, she sat down and smiled as she looked at Isaac and the food he was preparing. "Smells nice, as usual."

Isaac chuckles and replies, "Thanks, but I'm really not that great of a cook." After serving up their food, which was a handmade breakfast pizza with eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon, and bell pepper, he sits down next to his friend and says, "There's more on top of the stove if you want it." That said, he takes a bite and smiles, allowing himself a rare moment of pride for his work. Just then, he stands up and says with a chuckle, "Oops, forgot our drinks. What do you want?"

Chuckling softly, Hayley shrugged and replied, "Eh, just get me some water and I'll be happy." She took a bite out of the pizza slice and was contend enough to savor the flavor and texture. "Y'know, I think I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I'm happy to have you cook for me," she said to him with a friendly grin. "Maybe I'm enjoying this a little bit too much, so here's hoping I can start moving around outside the apartment soon. Given what happened to us both, you'd think I'd be too traumatized to step out of the bed."

Isaac chuckles and, returning with a glass of water for both of them, says, "I've always known you were a tough girl, especially after what happened a few months ago." Feeling himself flush slightly over how easily the praise came, he sits down and slides Hayley's drink to her before taking a sip of his own. After a few minutes of eating silently, he asks the question he hoped he'd never have to ask: "So...after you're healed, do you want me to leave, again? I'd understand if you did, I just wanna let you know that I've enjoyed staying here."

Hayley paused and put down her glass on the table, a contemplative gaze in her eyes. All things considered, she was immensely fortunate to have Isaac by her side and she hadn't seen Vincent since his fight with Arlia, so she assumed that the two had agreed to a less hostile agreement during their stay. Had it not been for his timely rescue and help, she would had been completely crippled or dead. It was then that she saw his sincerity and selflessness, making her feel guilty for jumping to conclusion too quickly in the past.

"Hard to say... On one hand, you are a bit off in the head, with your amnesia and all, and your 'friend' even moreso," she paused, watching Isaac's expression closely. "On the other hand, had it not been for you, I don't think I'd live to this day. I can't thank you enough for what you've done..." Hayley began to fidget and her fingers nervously flicked around as she seemingly tried to push her words out of her mouth. "If it's not too much to ask... will you stay?"

Hearing Hayley talk about about his amnesia and Vincent, Isaac started feeling that she was going to say that he had to leave. However, her final question made his breath catch in his throat. She...she really wants us to stay? he thinks. Say yes, moron! Vincent replies. Odds are, this offer has a time limit! Quickly, he gathers himself and, grinning widely, says, "Uh, yeah, sure. I mean, of course, I'll stay! A-as long as you'll have me, of course."

When she first met Isaac, she was amicable, but wanted nothing on his personal baggage. When she first met Vincent, she was on the verge of assigning him and Isaac as threats. However, as time passed and they spent more time together, she came to realize that he, along with Vincent to a certain extent, was a friend worth keeping and fighting for. "After what you've done for me, I would be very ungrateful if I say that you should bugger off. That, and I don't have to cook and still got to eat some yummy grubs with you around~!" She added the last part in jest, but it didn't detract from the fact that she had now trusted him as a friend, well enough for her to accept him as who he was.

Isaac laughs and replies, "Well, guess I'm really earning my keep, huh?" Returning to his food, feeling oddly happier than he remembers ever feeling, he bites into his pizza, grinning as he chews. Minutes later, he rises to his feet and puts his plate in the sink before returning to Hayley's side. After a few more minutes of silence, he asks, "So, do I need to make anymore trips to the grocery store or anywhere else? Or are you feeling well enough to walk around outside?"

"I should be well enough for a round trip to the grocery store. About time I actually go somewhere other than my bathroom," Hayley replied casually, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "I'm not the kind of person who loves being cooped up for a long time. The only reason I didn't throw a good fit over the last few months is that you're such a fucking good cook." Gently nudging his shoulder with her hand that wasn't attached to her recovering arm, she chuckled and asked, "What's left in the fridge? Might be a good time to make the list before we head off. We're lucky that I've been saving up money for emergencies, but we gotta be careful in using it."

"I'll go ahead and check," Isaac says. As he walks over to the fridge and begins listing everything they needed so Hayley could write it down, Vincent says, You know, you two may as well be married at this point. I mean, you are living together already. Besides, if you guys were married, you'd be able to 'sleep' in her-- Cutting him off, Isaac, glad that the refrigerator door was hiding his blushing face, says, Shut up, Vincent! Rising to his feet, he turns to Hayley, his face back to normal, and asks, "Did you manage to write down everything we needed?"