Natalie answered a knock at the door, flinching a little when she saw who it was.
"Chris, hey..."
"Morning Natalie," he turned on the charm, "Taylor around?"
"Ah... yeah of course," she gave him a curious look, "I'll just get him for you."
"Sure thing. I'll wait."
Natalie nodded, then went to find him. She found him in the bedroom still getting dressed.
"We've got a visitor," she said as she ducked her head in.
"Who?" Taylor asked, before hesitating.
He turned to her as he did up the buttons on his shirt.
"It's Chris, isn't it?"
"That will never not be creepy," she said flatly, before leaving the room.
Taylor hesitated, shrugged to himself, then grabbed his red cap and headed for the front door.
"Hey," he greeted as he stepped out, "what are you doing here?"
"I hate to ask..." Chris decided to get right to the point, "but is there any chance I could stay here a couple of days? Matt's back. Avie's Matt."
Taylor slid his cap on as he closed the door behind him.
"Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Chris looked surprised.
"I already told you I didn't like you being here after the whole... shapeshifter thing."
"I'm past that, I swear," Chris held his hands up in surrender.
He indicated for Taylor to take a seat on the edge of the porch. Taylor sighed, but obliged. Chris followed and sat next to him.
"Just a couple of days, I promise. Then I'll be out of your hair."
"And where are you going to go?"
Chris shrugged.
"I'll find something. Once I get in touch with Steel and get him to transfer some money, cos I'm kind've out."
Taylor couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"But yeah. That's why I'm not in a motel or anything."
"Did Zac finally kick you out?"
"No."
Taylor looked across at him and smirked.
"So... what then? Are you hiding? From my sister?"
"No," Christian scoffed, "I just figured it'd be easier for her to not have to explain to her boyfriend who I was."
"Uh huh," Taylor nodded, chin up and looking down.
Chris glanced across at him, then punched him on the shoulder. Taylor chuckled.
"I'm not hiding from your sister."
"Yeah whatever. You can stay, as long as it's okay with Nat."
"Thanks."
Taylor rubbed his arm in the silence that followed. He noticed idly that it wasn't an awkward silence.
"So how is 'Neal' going, anyway?" he asked finally.
"He barely even exists anymore," Chris admitted, "I mean what's the point? Anyone I associate with already knows it's me. Except Steel and Co., I guess."
"You've managed to keep that to yourself for a long time."
"That was the plan. Maybe I'll keep it up as long as I can. Keep Guffrey off the trail."
Taylor's heart skipped a beat at the mention of the name.
"Chris..."
"Yeah?" Chris looked up at him.
"There's something I need to tell you. Please don't get mad at me for not telling you sooner, because I really did forget. But it might help you make up your mind about staying in Tulsa."
Chris hesitated, eyes searching Taylor's.
"You have me intrigued. What is it?"
Taylor looked away and started picking at his nails.
"Guffrey's been in Tulsa."
"What do you mean?" Chris frowned, "why? Why has he been here? Was he looking for me? Was he spying on you? How did he find you? How did he even know-"
"I don't know all the gory details," Taylor held a hand up to stop him, "but I ran into him in a park a few months ago. He was using my power to read something. If Ezra hadn't have run off in his direction, I never even would have known he was there."
He put his hand down.
"But he made it quite clear that it wasn't the first time he'd done it."
A look crossed between anger and confusion covered Christian's face.
"He's been borrowing your power without you even knowing about it?" he shook his head.
"Basically. Who knows how many times he's done it before? Or since? We don't know his range, all he might have to do is walk past the house. Maybe even just the street corner."
"No he has to be closer than that," Chris rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "but I wish I could remember more."
"The point is, I don't know that it's safe for you here."
"It isn't safe for me anywhere," Chris shrugged, "at least this way I can rub his face in it later."
"Later? When?" Taylor frowned.
"When he catches me," Chris looked down, picking at his nails as Taylor had done earlier.
"You think he will?" Taylor looked surprised.
"I think he's a whole new kind of determined," Chris reasoned, "and I don't know if I have the stamina to outrun him until he dies."
"That sounds mightily like a give-up speech."
Chris gave him a scornful look.
"I'm not planning to hand myself over. I just think the day that we cross paths again is inevitable, and I think he's going to be more prepared next time."
"And you're probably right," Taylor nodded, "so maybe you should be, too."
"How do you propose I prepare for him of all people?" Christian's eyes narrowed, "you know full well that his problem is that he's unpredictable."
"Maybe we only think that because of his power variable," Taylor suggested, "because I assure you, Ezra's power borrowing is pretty predictable. Maybe you need to work out some sort of pattern to his power usage."
"Ezra is your son," Chris said, "Guffrey is a wealthy and powerful adversary. They are very different."
"Maybe, maybe not. Got a better idea?"
"And how do you propose we get close enough to even try?"
"We already are," Taylor shrugged, "he comes to me."
"But you don't know when or how often."
"Nat suggested something when we saw him..." Taylor bit his lip for a moment, still debating in his head if Chris should be told or not, "because we don't know much about Ezra's power, she suggested that we see if he'd be interested in talking to Isaac about it. You know, for his power research."
"You're kidding, right? That is just asking for trouble!"
"Possibly. But if it works, that puts him in your range, right?"
"I'm sorry," Chris shook his head and sat back a little, "but that sounds like suicide. And not attractive at all."
"I know, which is why it's been like three months and I still haven't told Ike about it," Taylor scratched his arm, "and as far as my greatest line of defence goes, he already knows about it. Heck, he bore the brunt of it."
"I remember that," Christian's eyebrows rose.
"I'd be surprised if you didn't," Taylor admitted, "that was... a defining experience for me."
"For a lot of us. Especially after everything that happened with Blakesley, I don't think any of us expected you to hit back at anyone so hard."
He looked across, noticing Taylor visibly flinch at the mention of the name.
"What?"
"Huh?"
"You flinched when I mentioned Blakesley. What's going on?"
Taylor hesitated, then rubbed his face.
"You know those telepaths that were after Avery?"
"I am aware, yes," Chris nodded.
"One of them... or maybe a dreamwalker, I don't know... came for me last week. They locked me in some sort of nightmare. With Blakesley."
Chris let out a low whistle.
"Ouch."
"That's one word for it."
"So what happened?"
Taylor glanced across at him as if to make sure he was actually listening.
"Credit to the dreamwalker, it was very well set up," he began carefully, glancing over his shoulder to make sure there were no prying ears, "I woke up in the labs, and they acted as if I'd lost my memory. It was February 2012."
"Good start," Chris murmured.
"Right? So of course he had to `remind' me of the supposed `training' I'd been through. He whipped my back to shreds because I unchained myself from the table-"
"You were able to?" Chris frowned.
"That's the thing. Apparently I'd done it myself," Taylor glanced across at him, "so that was a result of the training, or whatever. I don't know. He was treating me like Natalia."
Chris whistled.
"Not like that," Taylor scorned, "but in terms of... you know. Pliability. But after making me stand up all night after the whipping he took me into this other room, and River and Viggo were there-"
"Who?"
"Oh, my two youngest. Chris... he had Nat and the kids. He was using them as leverage."
Chris looked at him sideways.
"Maybe I'm not the best person to be talking to about this," he offered.
"In case you hadn't noticed," Taylor's voice lowered, "everyone else I know who's ever suffered at the hands of Blakesley happens to be dead. Except Natalia, I guess, but last I heard she was in a mental institute because she told the cops that I'd butchered her boyfriend in front of her. Which I did."
Christian's frown deepened.
"You what?"
"It was back when I had the alter ego, I had no idea I'd done it until Blakesley called me the next morning."
"Right. I think I remember Steel mentioning something about the homicidal tendencies..."
"They were very real. But basically, the only other person who has even met Blakesley, besides Steel, is Ike. And Ike is... he's never really handled the whole thing very well. And now with what's happened with Avery, he's not taking it very well."
"He seemed fine to me," Chris shrugged.
"Yeah but you don't know him very well," Taylor pointed out.
"Touché."
Taylor watched him again for a moment.
"What was it like at his father's house?" he asked suddenly.
Chris gave him a surprised glance.
"You really want to go there?" he asked.
Taylor shrugged.
"Did I tell you the guy was a cannibal?"
"You haven't told me anything," Taylor was immediately regretting asking.
Chris looked over his shoulder for the same reason Taylor had a few moments earlier, before leaning in slightly.
"The guy made me eat myself," he said softly.
"Oh gross," Taylor cringed.
"Exactly," Christian's eyebrows rose, "top that."
"Okay..." Taylor couldn't help but chuckle a little, wondering how on Earth their experiences could turn into a game so suddenly.
"This eye," he indicated his right, "Blakesley stabbed a scalpel through. And this one," his left, "he gouged out. Slowly. No painkillers."
"Ooh," Chris hissed through his teeth, "that's pretty up there. Okay. This hand..." he held out his right, "he slid needles through the webbing between each finger, and stuck a huge spike through the palm of my hand."
"He crucified me, pick it up," Taylor smirked.
"Ouch. Well he then put my hand in a box of flesh-eating bugs once he'd done that."
"Okay, getting closer," Taylor nodded.
"Oh and at the same time, he filled my boot with liquid nitrogen," Chris kicked the offending foot out, "this is not my original foot."
"At least you have your original eyes," Taylor pointed out, making Chris smirk, "okay... how about... I was buried alive for three days straight. In a coffin."
"Close," Chris nodded, "he had me – and this was while I had the hand and foot thing going on – in a tub of water, where I had to actually hold myself up to stop myself from drowning. That was for a few days straight. Plus I was locked in the room with Christina at the time, that was aggravating enough in itself."
"Christina... I think I remember that name," Taylor thought out loud.
"She was... or is, I don't know if she's still alive, an alien hunter. I believe she took you guys in the first time," here Taylor nodded, clicking as to who she was, "she seemed to take a shine to me. She actually held me captive one time just because she was `lonely' and figured I'd be the best person to understand whatever she was going through. She was mentally deranged."
"Awkward," Taylor mused.
"Damn straight. But she had Chloe as a trade, so you know."
Taylor nodded.
"Of course that was before I got this," Chris pulled the spider pendant from his pocket.
Taylor's eyes widened when they fell on it.
"Put that thing away!" he hissed, leaning over to hit him.
"What? Why?" Chris frowned.
"Because if anyone is watching us, you having a different face will mean nothing if they spot that," Taylor pointed out.
Chris cupped the pendant into his hand and stared down at it, making sure it wasn't visible to anyone but them. After he was quiet for a time, Taylor's brow furrowed.
"You're not thinking of wearing it again, are you?"
"I might be," Chris looked up toward the road.
"Chris, no," Taylor shook his head, "seriously. You're better than that now. You don't need it."
"And when it comes to Guffrey?" Chris looked across at him.
Taylor didn't have an answer. Chris waited a moment to give him the benefit of the doubt, and then smirked.
"Thought so."
"It's not cut and dry," Taylor shook his head, "but I remember when you first got that pendant. You were a different person with it on."
Chris raised an eyebrow, "how so?"
"You were..." Taylor tried to think of how to word it, leaning his right arm on his knee, "I don't know. I don't want to say that it necessarily makes you `evil' or whatever, but you weren't yourself. Not the you that we know. You get what I'm saying?"
"Not really," Christian's eyes narrowed, "I don't believe I felt any different. Maybe more confident, is all..."
"It was more than that," Taylor shook his head, "you didn't seem to… care."
"I cared enough to not let Blakesley cut your face up, that's gotta count for something, right?"
Taylor's eyes looked to the pendant.
"Maybe," he took a deep breath.
Christian was back to staring at it, the spider's back taking on a ruby hue.
"Would you rather your family die than suffer at the hands of Blakesley?" he asked suddenly.
"What?" Taylor frowned.
"You heard me," Chris didn't look up, "what do you think is a worse fate? Would you be able to live with yourself if they were there… and you could have stopped it?"
"By killing them?" Taylor's eyebrows rose.
"If that was your only option," Chris shrugged.
Taylor shook his head, his eyes to the pendant again.
"Can you put that thing away? I don't like the way you're talking."
Chris smirked, before flipping the chain up into his hand and slipping it back into his pocket.
"Just elaborating on your nightmare," he reasoned.
"Then let's not," Taylor insisted, "forget I even said anything."
At that moment, the front door opened. Both men looked up.
"Hey… Tay? We're due over at your parents really soon," Natalie poked her head out.
"Right. Are the kids ready?"
She nodded.
"Okay I'll be there in a moment," he assured as Chris stood and brushed himself off.
"I'd better take my leave..."
"And go where? Aren't you supposed to be staying here?" Taylor mused as he also stood.
"I'll give you some time to talk to the wife," Christian smirked, "I'll come back tonight?"
"Okay sure," Taylor nodded, before looking over his shoulder, "before you go..."
Chris gave him an odd look, before Taylor turned slightly and held something out concealed in the palm of his hand. Christian's eyes widened a little when he realised it was a small vial of blood.
"Is that...?"
"Shapeshifter," Taylor nodded, "I figure you must be almost out. And I don't want you killing again."
"But... where? How?"
"That's what happens when you have friends, Chris," Taylor smiled a little as he took it and slipped it into a pocket, "they don't mind doing you favours. Don't worry, I didn't tell him who wanted it or what for."
"How did you get away with it?"
"Like I said, he's a friend. See you tonight?"
"Sure thing," Christian saluted, before jumping down from the porch.
"Bye," Taylor half smiled, before returning to the house.
Chris made his way down the path, rolling his eyes at himself and his situation.