Pained.

Twenty-Two.

"Kane, Kane.." Alexander shook the sweating man awake. He was having another nightmare. Kane was panting heavily, trying to catch his breath.

He sat up against the headboard of his bed and began to stare at Alexander.

"What ya' doin' in my house?" He watched Alexander warily.

"You went to sleep on the way over here and I didn't want to leave you here alone. I'm sorry I didn't ask." He handed Kane a glass of water. Kane stared at it as if it was some foreign object.

"I'm not drinkin' dat. Fa' all I know, ya' could be tryna drug me." Kane sat the glass of water on the nightstand.

Kane may have been nice yesterday but that was only because he was fatigued and hungry. Now that he was more aware of himself and Alexander, he was being cautious. True enough, Alexander may have saved him and gave him an apology for the things he put him through, but it was like Damien always said, "A leopard never changes it's spots."

Alexander chuckled, "Understandable."

He was being so nice to Kane it was scary. Kane just knew this was a facade. As soon as Kane let his guard down, he would attack.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alexander asked as he put distance between him and Kane on the bed. He didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.

"Nah, I been dealin' wit' them on my own, I'ma continue ta' do so."

"That's fine. My therapist told me that it's better to talk about it so I figured, you know.." he trailed off.

"Yeah I get it." Kane snapped. His attitude at two in the morning was the worst.

He stared at Alexander for a minute, analyzing him. He seemed so different, his aura was different. He looked handsome as always but Kane knew what was beneath those looks.

"What's ya' endgame hea'? Ya' just show up out of nowhere bein' nice. I know ya' pissed at me fa' escapin'." Kane folded his arms over his belly.

"If I'm being honest, I was at first. But once I started going to therapy, I realized I had no right to be upset with you. I'm not mad at you, Kane."

"Ya' think I'm stupid? This is all some game. Ya' just waitin' on me ta' let my guard down so ya' can take me back ta' Manhattan."

"I promise I'm not like that anymore. If my intentions were to take you back to Manhattan, you wouldn't have been here as long as you have. I've known where you've been since the day you escaped. If I really wanted you back in Manhattan, we wouldn't be sitting here talking."

Kane's mouth went slack as Alexander told him this. He knew all this time?

"What I want ta' know is, why?" Kane finally asked. It was the question he had thought about everyday when he was with Alexander. It was the question he thought about when he was escaping, and it was the question he was thinking about in this moment.

"Why what?"

"Why da' fuck would ya' do dat shit ta' me? Ya' kidnapped me, ya' beat my ass every chance ya' got, and ta' top it all off, ya' raped me. I told ya' how people in my past hurt me and ya' turned around and did da' same shit! Dat shit broke me! I've neva' had nobody ta' love me properly and then here ya' come professin' how much ya' love me and beatin' da' hell out of me! When I lost my memory and ya' were bein' so perfect, it's like da' old Alexander didn't exist and I started ta' like ya', really like ya'. Then ya' showed ya' true colors and I was so hurt and disappointed. Hurt 'cause of my feelings fa' ya' and ya' did dat lowdown, disrespectful shit ta' me. I was disappointed fa' allowin' myself ta' get dat close ta' ya'. Ya' say ya' changed and ya' makin' all these promises, ya' know who else did dat shit? Amanda, Steve, and Clint. Everybody who claimed ta' love me lied! All people do is hurt me when I don't do shit. I ain't never hurt nobody, why do people feel da' need ta' hurt me? I'm just a fuckin' orphan from New Orleans tryna make a way like everybody else. I just-" Kane couldn't formulate anymore words as he began to sob into his hands.