A Different Time

Three

Third Person
Ryder stands in front of Dan at the entrance of his home in London. Her eyes are wide with fear and so are his.
"What in the hell are you doing here? We haven't seen each other in ages, and here you are!" Dan sighs, shutting the door and walking over to her to embrace her. She takes a step back, keeping her arms at her sides.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..." she whispered, feeling his breath on her face.
He chuckles, draping an arm over her shoulders.
"I've got all day, Ally."
Alex feels a slight tingle in her chest at the sound of her old nickname. The way he said it. She brushes it off as nothing and walks over to his sofa with him.
—
Alex's POV
"And then I barged in here and... Well... You're here. It's you. It's been you." I finish. For the first time during the whole conversation, I look up from my hands and I look at him. His eyes are massive and his lips are slightly parted.
"Me...? Im nobody, though. What did I do?" He asks quietly. I almost couldn't hear him.
I felt something strange in my stomach as he called himself a 'nobody'.
"You're worth a lot of money. That's why." I reply.
"So, a bunch of pig cops didn't feel like being in charge was exciting enough? They need some extra cash, is that it? That's all they want? You almost died because of that? Because of me?" He says, slapping his hand down on the arm of the sofa. I haven't seen him this angry since that time my ex boyfriend hit me at a party. Dan had gotten so worked up over it and even broke Evan's arm. I never saw Ev again.
"I was perfectly fine. They couldn't have gotten close enough to me anyways." And it's true. They couldn't have. I'm far more well-trained than they are. I'm FBI, they're—... Just cops.
He shakes his head.
"Shouldn't we call the police?" He asks.
"No." I shake my head. "I don't know who else is in on it. Could be the whole department for all we know. There was a chick in there, I recognized her voice. She's from the Bureau, for sure. No cop I know has a voice nearly as cocky as hers."
Dan nods softly.
"...So... You've been... Working, all these years?"
I shrug.
"Got fired a while back. Been going solo on these guys for the last few years. Hasn't been easy, but I get by." I can't exactly tell him about all the nights where I've had to sit on a stool in my kitchen and pull bullets out of myself and stitch myself up. Or the nights where I fall asleep in the tub with a bottle of wine or two. Or all the weekends where I do nothing but drink and vomit. I'm not exactly sober, either. I can't remember the last time where there wasn't something in my system. Back in Uni, I think. It's hard to remember anything these days.

He stands, patting his thighs.
"Whelp. Do you want to um—... I've got a pizza in the fridge from last night, if you want some? Don't really wanna go out tonight." He asks, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the kitchen.
I nod and smile.
"Aw, did my story scare you?" I laugh.
I see him roll his eyes before he turns around to go into the smaller, messier room.
I see as he ducks his head down and picks up the pizza box and slaps it onto the counter.
"One or two?" He asks. I grin.
"Two."
I hear a faint chuckle and the microwave beeps a few times, which I guess he's punching in numbers. I hear the hum of the little counter-top-oven as Dan reappears from around the corner and he sits on the back of the sofa and slides down onto his back, with his legs hanging over the back. He's upside down.
I remember that he used to sit upside down on our sofa, in the apartment we shared back in the day. Any time we had finals or a big test, he'd get over stressed and do that. He told me that it made him feel better. The blood rushes to his head, or whatever.
"Do you still have that weird dog?" He suddenly says.
"Which dog?"
"The big fluffy one. He had this dumb look on his face all the time, couldn't eat properly. Had no back teeth or something?" He says, waving his hand around.
"Oh. Max."
"Yeah! Maxie." He smiled.
I hang my head slightly to the side. This is a sad subject for me.
He looks over at me, and I shake my head. He suddenly sits upright and leans over.
"What're you on about?"
I press my lips into a hard line and I exhale through my nose.
"Dan, that was years ago... 'Member when he had those sick days, couldn't keep his food down, couldn't stand without help?" I asked.
Dan nodded.
"Yeah, Id have to lift his butt up so his legs could work."
I nodded.
"Dan, Max is gone. He died a long time ago."
Dans face drops a tiny bit. He loved Max. And Max loved him.
"How did he—...?" He pauses and looks up at me.
"Vets never found anything wrong with him. He just... stopped eating. His fur started to fall out in places, and his skin got really sensitive and leathery. He was just old. 16, actually." I said.
"Hmm.." Dan mumbles.
The microwave dings. The scent of pizza brings Dan out of his sad state and his eyes brighten. He smiles and jumps up from the couch and dives across the room, returning with a plastic plate with four slices on it.
—
"How else are we supposed to do anything? We can't just hole-up in here forever. And I can't be out touring with these guys on my ass. I'd rather only I died. People don't have to be killed because of me." Dan rambles. We've been talking about this for a few hours now. It's almost midnight.
"I don't know. The only option I can see at this point is to keep moving. Stay anonymous." I shrug. I'm pacing back and forth in his bedroom, as he sits on the bed.
"Well, a lot of people know my face. How are we supposed to do this whole anonymous thing if I'm getting recognized every hour?"
It takes me a few minutes, but I get an idea.
"Here's a thought. It's not a very good one, but I've seen it work in the past. You're not gonna like it, though."
He stands up, his arms outstretched at his sides.
"What? What is it? I will do anything."
"You have a shaver?" I ask.
He nods. "Like a beard trimmer?" He asks.
I shrug.
"That'll do."
"But why would we need a trimmer?" He asks. Then it hits him. He gives me the side-eye.
"I'm starting to think you're out to get me." He says quietly.
I roll my eyes.
"I'm not, but they are. You want to do this or not?" I put my hands on my hips.
He sighs and walks into a different room, coming back seconds later with a shaver.
He looks sad.
He hands it to me.
"Do it..."
I purse my lips. He gets on his knees in front of me and I stand behind him, and I flick on the electric razor. Dan flinches.
"Bye bye, mane." I whisper, running the trimmer through his hair.
A clump of hair falls to the floor.