In the dark, Hannah stared into the bathroom mirror, the face staring back looking like a generic, rejected NPC design from a VR game. Who ARE you? Turning on the cold tap, she filled a dirty glass, swirled it, dumped it, then filled it again. She chugged it down. It tasted like rotten eggs, but she didn’t care. Her head pounded to the beat of a glitching drum machine from last night’s nonsense, and she needed some water.

  Yesterday started so well. Charm your way in, swipe the dead guy’s data, and scram. Even getting shot was within her margin for error. Play your role. In and out. No complications. Mega payday. One more tale in my legend. On to the next thing.

  No complications.

  Then shit went sideways.

  One complication.

  Setting the glass down with a soft clink, she glanced at the mirror again, this time at the Loro Piana-branded bump on the couch rising and falling with Mac’s breathing. This guy. Some naive, wide-eyed idiot who should’ve been a non-factor. Another dime a million wage slave if he’d just stayed his course like he was supposed to. According to her parameters.

  But.

  But why did it feel kinda… icky to even think about leaving him high and dry? Splashing cold water on her face didn’t help her shake it. It couldn’t have been those damn puppy-dog eyes and his endless, stupid optimism for a world that hated him and did its best to kill him at every turn, her stunt yesterday being the latest. Or that he helped the guy at the hot dog stand not to shake off their tail but to? Her imagination couldn’t quite place it. And to tell him of all people California’s deepest, darkest secret on a pinkie swear? Surely, surely she couldn’t be serious.

  Out of all the imbeciles in the world, Mac was the biggest one she’d met. Who in their right frame of being poor as shit, would risk it all to trip their employer’s goons chasing a total stranger caught red-handed stealing company property? Him? Perish the thought. It was probably an accident and he ran with it to look cool. She made a fist, then relaxed her hand. Her bathroom mirror would live to see another day.

  Focus. What’s done is done. On to the next thing. No complications this time.

  She wiped her hands on a hanging towel, the cold water already losing its effect. But then her eyes flicked to the couch, to Mac’s peaceful, oblivious form wrapped up in the blanket like a kid. He stirred once and smiled. No. Stop that. You’re already square.

  But leaving him now would be like if I was a mother elk abandoning her calf in the middle of a pack of wolves who hadn’t eaten all winter. When I put it that way…

  “Fuck,” she whispered as she made her way to the kitchen.

  In the kitchen, Hannah fished out a memo pad and a pen. Tearing a page off, she began writing.

  A quiet voice from behind interrupted her. “What are you doing?”

  “GAAAAAAAAAH!”

  “Mornin’.”

  She opened her mouth to talk and closed it again before asking, “WHY ARE YOU UP?”

  Parsing that she was shouting, she dropped to her indoor voice. “Do you even know what time it is?”

  "Heard you moving around. I’m a light sleeper. Always have been,” Mac answered. “It’s uhh,” he checked the clock on the microwave beside him and yawned. “4:38. Can’t sleep?”

  “No, I was just leaving you a set of keys and a note. Was gonna take a walk. Got some shit on my mind.” Hannah crumpled the sheet and tossed it into the recycling bin.

  “Stay here,” she ordered, feathering her slipping face to keep it still.

  Steeling her eyes, she went on. “Or don’t. I don’t care. Just please don’t go home, whatever you do. They’re looking for us.”

  Mac shot her a puzzled look before his eyes widened, now more awake. Those puppy-dog eyes again: oh, how she hated it when he looked at her that way. His words from last night came to mind: “I’ve known. I felt it in my gut when I chose to help you run,” and her heart skipped a beat.

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  He really chose.

  Clenching her fists, she reconsidered. Not knowing was killing her anyways. “On second thought, we should talk. Got a question for you.”

  The fear in his eyes shifted to concern as he leaned back against the counter, using his hands for support. “Uh, sure. Shoot.”

  “Why’d you help me?” she asked.

  Mac paused, looking for an answer in her eyes. “I thought I knew before you told me that. Back then, I didn’t know you had a death wish. Now, I’m not so sure.”

  Great job, Hannah. You might be ready to go down swinging for glory, but this guy—he actually wants to live. Now he’s gonna DIE because of you.

  “This is so messed up,” Hannah remarked, rubbing a hand on her forehead.

  “So what should we do about it?”

  This guy. “We?”

  Mac chuckled groggily, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Yeah, I figured at the diner that my chances were better than zero if I stuck with you. But I chose to help you in the first place, remember? My ‘why’ doesn’t really matter now. We’re stuck together, for better or worse.”

  Her heart thumped again. Hard. Of course she remembered. It was the only thing from last night her dumb brain had stored in high definition. It’s been on an endless loop ever since.

  This guy. This irritating guy. His childlike sleeping face. His stubble. His go with the flow zen.

  She clenched and unclenched her jaw as she fought the blood rushing to the surface of her face, desperate to cool off. “You know what?”

  “What?”

  Hannah scowled. “You’re right. And I hate it. Care to join me on that walk?”

  ---

  The still early morning air kept the fog in place as they passed under a half-bright LED streetlamp. Finally, some fresh air. Behind them, the highway rumbled, roared, and sometimes beeped.

  Mac broke the silence. “Been meaning to ask.”

  “About what?”

  Shuffling his feet nervously, he clasped his hands behind his back in the perp pose. “I’m just curious. If you’re that rich, then why be about this life at all? When I was sitting with you at the diner, I saw an ad about moving to Dublin and I…” He stumbled through his delivery. “Sorry. That came out hella judgy. Guess I’m just trying to find out what makes you tick.”

  This guy. Hasn’t he been punished enough for sticking his nose where it didn’t belong?

  She stopped and narrowed her eyes at Mac. “Why do you wanna know?”

  Mac didn’t flinch. “I’m trying to understand you. I feel like that’s important when it’s a matter of life or death.”

  “I’ve never asked you anything personal since we’ve met and yet we’re still here,” Hannah deflected, crossing her arms.

  “Yeah, but—” Beeeeeep! Skrrrr! CRASH! Skrrrr! SMAAAAASH! CRUNCH! Skrrrr! ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR! They turned around. A moment passed. Seconds later, a dense column of heavy black smoke, followed by leaping tongues of orange, began to rise over the barriers. Hiss! Whump! Crk crk crk! Watching in silence, they stood still, enchanted by the dancing incandescence. Minutes passed. Red, white, and blue flashes pulsed through the fog, streaking across the pavement while the sirens screamed their frustration at placing second once again.

  “God, I hope they’re okay.”

  “…Yeah.” Tears began to bead up in the corners of Hannah’s eyes. She blinked and quickly brushed her cheeks as they grew big enough to fall, but Mac had already noticed. This guy. A small sob. Then earthshakingly ugly ones.

  “Mac?”

  “Yeah?”

  She sniffled, wiping her snot with the cuff of her windbreaker sleeve. “Your life, like, totally sucks.”

  “You have a way with words, dude.” Mac laughed, reaching out, but taking it back at the last second.

  “Why do you even bother with it? I’ve only known you for a day but I get the feeling that all this stupid world ever does is kick you down,” Hannah asked.

  His eyes softened. He smiled as if he stole some warmth from the fire raging on the overpass. “Guess my dad just raised me that way. Growing up, I never really expected anything from the world.”

  “And you’re okay with that?! You could get zeroed any second and the world would just keep spinning, never caring or even knowing that you ever lived.” She shook her head. “No offense, but I don’t get it.”

  “Feel like that’s most of us. We’re too damn busy getting by and then one day we drop dead.” He shrugged, eyes focused on a firetruck arriving. The first ambulance pulled away from the crash with just its headlights and taillights on, not in any rush. “Yeah, it does kinda suck, but I’m suffering along with pretty much everybody else. If everybody’s life sucks, then maybe it doesn’t really matter. And I’m cool with that,” he stated, as if to say “amen.”

  “You see, that’s the part I don’t get,” she said, frowning.

  “Which part?”

  Hannah circled back to the unfinished conversation in the safe house. “That last bit. If you really thought that, then why did you help me last night?”

  Mac paused, holding her gaze for a pregnant moment. “Because.”

  Really?

  “Because?”

  A small smirk flickered across his lips. “Because.”

  Oh come on! That isn’t fair.

  With a sharp breath, Hannah cackled through her belly and doubled over in laughter, holding her stomach through her tears. “Fuck, you’re funny. If we weren’t being hunted down we could’ve…”

  “Hmm?”

  Waving her hands around, she swatted at the words hanging in the air, whiffing as they dodged behind the fog. “Nothing! You’re so nosy sometimes, you know that?”

  Mac’s smirk widened into a shit-eating grin as the emergency lights twinkled in the distance. “But I didn’t say anything.”

  Defeated, Hannah changed the subject. “…It looks beautiful from afar, doesn’t it?”

  “That’s messed up. But… yeah, I kinda see what you mean,” he replied. “So, what are we gonna do?”

  Reality. This guy. Always distracting me.

  “…Right.” She started walking again, having seen enough of the accident. Mac plodded along beside her, his eyes drifting up as the night began losing ground to the Sun once again.