“I missed cars,” he said, leaning against the window. His suit chafed his neck and he sighed, wishing he had been able to keep his old clothes. That morning had not been pretty.

“Do you really expect me to let you wear those old, disgusting pieces of shit? Look! There's blood on them!”

“That's from your window, it's recent. Not even set in yet.”

“That's foul.”

“Look, these are my clothes, I wear them every day. They're who I am.”

“Not anymore.”

He cried a little when she through them down the garbage chute. None of those pussy tears, though. Just one, long, slow-suffering drop that he thought made him look rather noble.

“This, Dustin,” she had said, prying his shuddering body away, “is how you handle a man. Get used to it.”

“Is he gay?” Archie asked, abandoning his quest for a moment to look over at Dustin, who choked on his breakfast.

“Me?” he asked indignantly, spitting out his bran muffin, “I am definitely not gay.”

“Just checking,” he said, turning back to his clothes.

“Are we there yet?”

“You're as bad as a kid, you know.”

The road sped past them and soon the land was suffocatingly familiar.

“Do I have to come back?”

“You got the porn, now it's your end of the deal.”

“What does he want?”

“I suppose he'll tell you when he gets there.”

“You already know. Now tell me.”

“I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.”

“Bitch.”

They were let in through the gates after Charlene flashed her pass. Seeing Archie in the passenger seat, his mouth dropped open, and it was his shaking that pressed the open button.

“You'd think he'd never seen a man before,” Archie commented, fiddling with his cufflinks.

“I don't think that was it,” Charlene said, coming to a halt in front of a rather small, squat building. It looked much like a frog on a lily pad, its green paint doing nothing to help the matter.

“Ah, home at last,” Archie sighed, getting out of the car and stretching.

“Dustin, take the car and park it,” Charlene ordered, slamming the door behind her and swearing as her heels caught in the gravel. “I'll never get used to it,” she said, “I'm too used to the bark.”

“Well, honey, times change. I'm back and now there's hell to be had,” Archie smiled and strode ahead of her, slapping his hand to the pad beside the door. It beeped twice and turned green, signaling him to pull the handle.

“Rerecognized already or did you just never delete me?” he glanced at Charlene, who shrugged.

“Does it matter?” They walked inside, where several busy looking men rushed past without speaking. Their gazes slipped over the two greasily, avoiding them so obviously that Archie winced.

“That bad?”

The door to the office that they approached was nothing special. Made of oak, it was battered and dinged, and along the edge were scuff marks where it had been kicked open. Charlene knocked and stepped back, drawing a breath as it swung silently inwards, much like a B rated horror flick.

“Goddamn loony. Has he got a string back there, ya think?”

“I'm sure it was some 10 million dollar experiment gone awry. Come on,” Charlene walked into the room, pulling the suddenly reluctant Archie along.

“Maybe I'll just wait outside,” he said, choking a little as she continued to pull.

“Get. In. Here,” she gave a massive tug, and together, they half stumbled, half fell into the room.

“Back together already?” the man sitting behind the desk looked amused, “I'd have thought you two would at least learn to keep it out of the workplace.”

“I would never-” Charlene gasped angrily, letting go of Archie's collar as if it had burned her.

“What? Pumpkin, I thought you said you still loved me!”

“With my stiletto in your face? I don't know what kind of masochist you are,”

“Just taking a loving from my little sadist. What was that, master? More tonight?”

“You're gonna get a fist to the face if-”

The man behind the desk cleared his throat. His smile had not disappeared, and as he shifted in his seat, it was impossible to notice the ketchup stains down his white shirt. Much like the door, he was unassuming and scuffed, and if passed in a street he'd be the sort of man you'd step on without saying sorry. If Archie hadn't known it, he would have never guessed that the man behind the desk was one of the most powerful men in the world.

Their argument stopped and Archie took a step back, hiding himself behind Charlene.

“Good morning Robert, Charlene, it's good to see you two again.”

“I'm not Robert anymore, Chief, it's Archie now.”

“Archie? That sounds like a drunken panhandler's name.” the Chief laughed, his grin fading as Charlene shook her head, “Oh come on, you mean to tell me you are a drunken panhandler? Surely you've found some other job by now.”

“With my record? Chief, don't be ridiculous,” Archie's voice held a tone of bitterness, which he quickly stifled.

“No one?”

“No one.”

“So , then, where do you live?”

“Well, actually, a couple nights ago I found this real nice room, with a bed and everything. It was pretty sweet, but some bitch came and kicked me out.”

“Sounds like a sad story,” the Chief said, ignoring Charlene's silent fuming. There was a pause as all three of them waited, the Chief picking a spot on his desk, Archie fiddling with his collar, and Charlene trying to find Archie's foot to trod on.

“So-”

“I-”

“You know-” all three of them spoke at once.

“Charlene, perhaps it would be better if you waited outside,” she nodded and walked out, taking the opportunity to land a kick in Archie's shin. The door closed slowly behind her, and Archie could see that indeed, there was a string leading from the door to the desk. The chief saw him looking and laughed.

“It gives the new recruits a scare,” he said, gesturing for Archie to sit, “clever, isn't it?”

“What do you want, Chief?”

“No need to be so blunt, Robert, it was only a moment of lightness.”

“Listen, Chief, this blast to the past was fun and all, but you guys are costing me days of money, and I can't afford that. I have a date with a good friend, and Mrs. Bourbon doesn't like to wait long.”

“You drink now?”

“What else do I have?”

“I didn't think it was possible for you to, well-”

“It takes a lot. A helluva lot. But I can do it.”

“Do you ever...lose control?”

“Please, I'm not some fucking vampire. My shit only comes once a month.”

“Right, right.” the Chief trailed off, scratching his chin as he stared at Archie.

“Well?”

“Well,” he finally said, “we'd like you to come back.” the silence was palpable.

“No.”

“No?”

“No. I can't do it. I won't. I refuse.”

“It's not really much of a choice here, Robert. We need you.”

“Like you needed me last time? Have you forgotten what I've done?”

“About that-”

“No, no about that. I killed a man, Chief. For no good reason. Just like that, over some petty rivalry. Do you honestly think I could come back after that? You should have put me away, like all the others. You should have killed me too. You should have-”

“Well, that's the thing.”

“What? What's the thing?

“He's not dead.”