Author's Note: Sorry I forgot the translations! My brain went away while I was uploading. -_-; Problem fixed now!

Day 03

He let out a sigh. “Much better response than last time.”

“Can I have my glasses?”

“Sure,” he said, standing. “Are you hungry?”

“A little,” she shrugged.

“Those two should be back with some food soon,” he said. “So, I know your name is Angelina Cartwright but what do you go by?”

“Just Angie,” she said. “Glasses?”

“In a second,” he said. “Well, Just Angie, my name's Sacre. I need to give you something else, OK? Another sedative. This one won't knock you out but it'll still help you stay calm. Do you understand?”

Memories of exploding furniture and hallways drifted through her head. He'd said she'd done that. If that was true then she certainly would need something to keep her calm. “Yeah,” she sighed. “I'm kinda jumpy.”

“I'm sure we didn't help matters,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “We're kind of an odd bunch.”

He gently adjusted her hand and she suddenly noticed that there was an IV in the back of her hand. He twisted the end of a syringe onto it and pushed in the plunger.

Angie squinted, trying to get her vision to clear a little so she could see his face. It didn't help. She was just about to ask for her glasses again when he was suddenly fitting them onto her face. “There you go,” he said. Finally she was able to put a face to the wonderful voice.

It was the scary guy with the tattoos. She'd been right about him wearing a black sleeveless shirt. She could now see that not only were the tattoos on his face and neck but they dripped and spiked along his arms, up his shoulders and obviously spread onto his chest. “You?” she asked, confused. She was having a difficult time equating this scary guy with the warm, comforting voice. The sedative wasn't helping her process very well either. Finally she blurted “Why would you get tattoos like that?”

Sacre grimaced. He hated that the most distinctive thing about him were those black marks. “They're not exactly tattoos,” he said. “And it wasn't really my choice. I'd be very happy if I didn't have them.”

“So why do you?” she pressed, feeling more bold than she would have if her system had been entirely clean.

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a sad smile. “So nobody else will have to.”

Sacre was saved from explaining more when the door to the small apartment they were renting slammed open. Hideki bustled in, a full paper grocery bag in each arm. “Took you long enough,” Sacre groused.

Hideki put the bags on the table. “ごめん。スーパーはたくさんひとがいました。”

Sacre rolled his eyes. “Sure. Where's Rolf?”

Hideki dug through the chokers around his own neck and hooked his thumb under one to bring it to the top. It was a simple black steel chain. Sacre's eyes widened in surprise. “It's here already?”

“はい。ラルフはでんわがありました。ほんぶでした。”

Sacre rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don't know what that means.”

Hideki came over, put a hand on top of Sacre's head and craned it back. He held his cell phone in front of Sacre's face. “でんわ,” he said. Then he made a ringing noise and held it to his ear, lowering his voice so it matched Rolf's almost perfectly. “ラルフです。” Then his tone became higher, obviously a female interpretation and he tugged on the chain as he said the first word. “くびかざりはそこがありましたよ。” Back to Rolf's. “そうか。ありがと。”

“That's amazing. You should be an actor.”

Hideki half-heartedly glared at Sacre then turned his attention to Angie. She was laying on the cot he and Rolf usually took turns sleeping on. The other option was the lumpy, broken-down couch that they both hated. Hideki had opted for the floor that night, “letting” his brother have the couch.

The girl's eyes were dilated so much that it was barely possible to discern the colors of her irises. Headquarters always gave Rolf the good stuff. But she was pale and there was still a bruise on her neck where Hideki had stuck the original needle. He reached down and touched her jaw to lift her chin and gently touch the bruise. He was pleased to find that he couldn't feel a hard hematoma under the skin. She didn't even react to his touch. “だいじょうぶか?” he asked.

Sacre's spine suddenly stiffened. He knew that one! “He wants to know if you're all right,” Sacre translated, keeping his voice cool and casual like Rolf did.

“Fine,” she said with a nod. “Thanks for asking.”

He smiled and nodded. “たべませんか?”

For some reason, Sacre really wanted this girl to think he was at least reasonably informed. “He said...something...about food?” he said haltingly.

Hideki gave him a flat look. “おまえはてんさい、ね?”

Sacre had the strangest feeling he'd been at least mildly insulted.

Just then the door opened and Rolf blew in. “Hey all, did you miss me?” He came over to the group by the cot and nudged Sacre's shoulder, holding out a choker identical to the black chain one Hideki had earlier. “So, what's she go by?”

“Angie,” Sacre said, inspecting the chain. It was one size fits all unless the person was abnormally huge. On Hideki it was a loose choker but on Angie it would probably be a short necklace.

Rolf scowled. “Angie? Is that short for something?”

“Angelina,” she answered from the cot, waving her arm.

“Perfect! 'Angie's' boring. You'll be Lina from now on,” Rolf said. “Hideki, donuts?”

“でんわのとなりです。”

Rolf zeroed in on the bag next to the cell phone and dug through it until he emerged with a box of donuts. “Score!”

ごめん。スーパーはたくさんひとがいました: Gomen. Supa wa takusan hitoga imashita = "Sorry. There were a lot of people at the story."
はい。ラルフはでんわがありました。ほんぶでした: Hai. Rolf wa denwaga arimashita. Honbu deshita = "Yep. Rolf got a phone call. It was headquarters."
でんわ: Denway = "Phone!"
ラルフです: Rolf desu = "This is Rolf"
くびかざりはそこがありましたよ: Kubikasari wa soko ga arimashita = "The necklace has arrived" (Bit of a loose translation)
そうか。ありがと: Soka. Arigato = "I see. Thanks."
だいじょうぶか: Daijoubuka = "Are you all right?"
たべませんか: Tabemasenka = "Would you like to eat?"
おまえはてんさい、ね: Omae wa tensai, ne = "Aren't you a genius?"
でんわのとなりです: Denway no tonari desu = "Next to the phone."

A/N: This is for the people who may know Japanese: No, I'm not entirely sure these are all grammatically and vocabularily (is that even a word...?) correct but I'm pretty sure. I meant to double check but I never got around to it. I'll try some time in the near future. Also, you may notice that Hideki is using extended, ultra-formal speech. I really wish he could use more casual, even arrogant speech but I don't know it. -_-; The only thing I do know is that he should probably use "ore" but I think it would seem odd with the ultra formal tones so I'm trying to avoid personal pronouns.