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Alex didn't like cleaning up these kinds of messes.
He didn't like wiping security cameras. He didn't like scrubbing floors on his hands and knees. He didn't like the reek of blood and bleach seeping into his clothes and his hair. He didn't like lugging bodies or burning them.
Cleaning up the mess wasn't half as fun as making it.
But by the time Alex left the cafe, there was no trace of him, Klaus, or Aria.
This was what Alex was good at - making people disappear. Before the authorities cracked down on travel, Alex used to smuggle the Enhanced out the country. But now that was virtually impossible. There was no way for the Enhanced to get out. They were trapped in the country with nowhere to run.
Things used to be so much easier. It used to be a matter of keeping it a secret. If you could keep your mouth shut, nobody would know you were Enhanced. And even if someone found out somehow, the worst it came to was people throwing hateful words or the occasional punch.
But now Big Brother could swab their cheeks and know what they were in a second. Now they were shot or dragged off into prisons and labs. Now if some hateful fool knew what they were, they could put a bullet in their head and get away with it because they were a threat.
Alex stopped by a convenience store and tossed whatever he could into a basket until it was full. He paused on his way to the register and looked down into the basket with a frown, remembering the things Eli had regurgitated from Aria's file.
It was only after he exchanged the pouches of instant noodles that he had originally grabbed with a different brand that he went to pay.
Nothing in the basket was particularly healthy, but it wasn't like any of them ate much anyway. It was on the days that Klaus cooked that they'd all sit down at the table and eat. Those were good days. They came less often now.
Maybe tomorrow will be a good day.
✗
When Alex opened the front door, he was met with the sight of dark eyes peeking at him from behind the couch in the living room, wide and cautious. The feelings were loud. Loud enough to make his head throb. It was like Klaus all over again. A tsunami of anxiety threatened to drown him until he managed to block it out. By then his heart was already beating unsteadily.
The girl was still watching. She seemed calm considering what he'd picked up off of her. It had to be bad for it to hit him like that without physical contact. He offered a smile before following the alarming sound of a high pitched whistle to the kitchen.
Eli stood in front of the stove, watching the steam rise up from their rusted tea kettle. Her hair was damp and so were her clothes - a towel laid between her hair and her clothes, soaking up the water.
"Took a shower?"
Eli didn't spare him a glance. "Siren got caught in the rain. I didn't want to force her back inside."
