When It All Falls Down

[Alexis Reese James]

When had it all went wrong? When had her life jumped off the tracks and careened wildly beyond her control? How had her happy, secure home turned into something resembling a crazy house?

Those was the questions that stormed Lexi's head as she sat on that lone bar stool and stared down into a tumbler filled with amber liquor as if all the answers could be found there. Which of course, she knew they wouldn't.

Life wasn't quiet that simple. Ever.

Skimming a finger around the edge of the chipped glass, the elegant looking blond paid no attention to the patrons around her and was completely lost to the interested glances shot her way. Her mind was filled with the circumstances leading to her presence in this dive where no one knew who or what she was and she functioned in a haze that was unusual for her, to say the least. Had anyone she knew seen her, they would have wondered at the sight. Not to mention the fact that she was currently on her third Jack on the rocks when she very seldom drank anything heavier than a glass of sherry.

Lifting the glass with a sigh, Lexi took a large sip before running a hand through her newly dyed auburn locks. As the color caught her attention, she grimaced and realized that her old nervous habits were coming back in full force. Karlie would laugh herself silly to see that her normally unshakable older sister was resorting back to her teenage pranks. Dying her hair had been her way of reasserting herself when the world had gotten to be to much and she'd lost control of her own life.

Now, it looked like it wasn't something she'd left behind with her adolesence. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.

Giving a sigh of exasperation, the pretty blond shifted on her seat and glanced at her cell that she'd put on vibrate. Two missed calls registered but she didn't bother to open the phone because she knew who they were from.

Tristian. Her.. husband? Anymore, she wasn't sure what he was. After his arrival back from the dead, she'd been over the moon in happiness without any will to question his past. Even his vampire state had only given her mild pause because he was still Tristian.

Or at least, he had seemed like the same Tristian she'd loved. Right up to the moment she found him keeping secrets from her.

Now... Now she wasn't certain of anything anymore.

So much had changed between them that she wondered if she truly knew him at all anymore. Ten years was a long time to be separated and that mocking voice in the back of her mind kept asking questions that Lexi wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer too. Especially after the mysterious phone calls and the clicks on the other end of a phone being hung up when the caller was told that Tristian was unavailable.

And that didn't even take into account the diabolical with their newly found son. What on earth had possessed her husband to bite the boy like that? Lexi had known that allowance would have to be made for the fact that her husband was no longer human but the ease in which he'd practically attacked the poor boy had left her stunned. Memories of her own attack at a vampires hands had flooded back and she felt herself watching Tristian with a new awareness that had nothing to do with desire or love and everything to do with fear.

It had left her with a rotten taste in her mouth and this combined with everything else in their lives.... Well, it was safe to say that a rift had formed between them that Lexi had no clue how to bridge.

Or even if she wanted to.

Sighing once more, the beautiful club owner lifted her glass once more and finished the drink. Waving at the bartender, she ordered another and waited somewhat impatiently for it to be delivered. On a logical level, she knew that drinking herself into oblivion would solve nothing but at the moment.. She didn't want to FEEL anything. She just wanted one moment where she didn't have to be the responsible one. One moment where she didn't have to pretend to have all the answers. One moment of shear oblivion.

After all, everyone fell down once in awhile. Why should she be any different?

[Athrun Knight]

Athrun walked into bar with a old tattered bag over his shoulder. He smiled as he shut the door behind him. He had been gone for so long, he was sure that everyone he cared about was upset with him. But he needed the time away to think. He journey lead him to Tibet where he stayed and learned from the monks there. He learned so much about himself and about his place in the world, and that place was right next to his friends, till the big guy upstairs called him home.

He had been told where to find Alexis and found it odd that she was not in her own club. He smiled, it had been a while since he had shaved, or had a hair cut, his hair was messy and longer then normal and he had the start of a beard growing in he ordered a glass of water then walked over to his friend and sat down he smiled,
"Anata wa anata no kokoro ni takusan aru yō ni mieru. Anata wa sūpā wa watashi ni hara o tatete suru hitsuyō ga arimasuga daisukidesu. Kon'nichiwa, arekushisu." he said to her in perfect Japanese.

((Translation: "You seem to have alot on your mind. You must be super pissed at me love. Hello, Alexis."))

((Did ya miss me? ))

[Alexis Reese James]

So lost in her own thoughts was she that Lexi didn't at first register the gentleman that sat down next to her. At the sound of a voice, she gave a little jump and turned indigo eyes on the individual speaking. For a long moment, she simply stared in bemusement as her mind struggled to make sense of the "gibberish" and then recognition set in.

Bloody hell! It was ATHRUN!

Blinking rapidly, she eyed the beard and wild mop of hair before arching a brow and smiling a bit. As her lips curved upwards in something resembling a grin, she ran his words through her mind once more and then finally gave up. Between her liquor clouded mind and her preoccupied state, she hadn't caught enough of it all to make sense of any of it.

"I'm sorry... Do I know you, sir?? I"m quiet sure that the gentleman you vaguely remind me off has fallen prey to some evil of the world. After all, that has to be the reason he doesnt call.. doesn't write... I tell you... Where is the love these days?" she teased with a slight chiding tone to her voice. " And hes certainly never be caught out in public lookign like a refugee from the 70's! He's entirely to profession and suave for that!"

Raising her glass, the elegant blond gave at her companion over the rim and then gave him a wink to show she was entirely kidding.

"As far as being mad at you.... well, I suppose that depends on how your going to make it up to me.... Lets start though with me buying you a welcome home drink, shall we?? And then you can tell me where the hell you've been!"

[Athrun Knight]

Athrun smiled, it was true though. He vanished with no warning or word. His retirement from the Marshal was approved while he was gone, that part of his life was no behind him. Athrun looked down at his glass of water.

"Sorry, I don't drink anymore" He said looking back up at her. "but as for buying you a drink, I'm sure i cam manage that" he said with a smile. Athrun took a sip of his water and leaned back.
"I left the Marshals, retirement was official last month" he said looking back at her. "I discovered that I'm needed more in other places" He said hinting that his hunting skills are needed more then his investigative skills. "Tibet, I needed to see a old friend"

"So Lex, are you gonna tell me whats on your mind?"

[Alexis Reese James]

That was the problem with old friends. No matter how long you'd been apart or how much distance had been traveled, they still could see right through the bullshit to the heart of the matter. Lexi wasn't sure she was real pleased with that knowledge as she turned her gaze away from Athrun and took a drink of the Jack in front of her.

"How do you know anything is on my mind, Knight?" she said, trying to stall the inevitable. "Maybe i just felt the need to get away from things for a little bit."

Tossing him a sideways look, the still beautiful blond tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. Damn, she could lie to everyone else but this man was one of the few that knew her to well to be fooled. Only problem was... She didn't have any clue as to where to start with things.

Lifting her glass, she took another sip before swirling the ice and turning on the stool to face him.

"You remember how I said that my life sometimes felt boring the last time we talked?? Lets just say that the old fable about being careful what you ask for because you just might get it aptly applies to what my life has become...... I have a son whos MIA, a daughter whos pregnant and recently married to a man who sold his soul to a demon, a dead son arisin from a grave that he evidently never was in to begin with and who thinks we are all a pack of crazies, a newly returned husband who just happens to be a blood sucker who forgot to let his family know he was alive for the last ten years, and an adopted son who was brutally attacked in MY own club by a witch who managed to get the drop on me..... Hows that for starters??"

[Athrun Knight]

Athrun simply smiled, It was a lot to take in. He looked down and crossed his arms. He looked at the table for a moment then back at Lex. "Well then, looks like we have some work ahead of us." he said in a calm tone. The one thing that bugged him the most was that Max was still alive, and a vampire none the less. Athrun had no clue he had screwed up that badly. How could he have not taken the time to make sure that Max's body wasn't showing signs of conversion? This was a mistake that he intended to correct.

Athrun looked at Lex again, "I will have Randy use some of his contacts to find that bone head you call a son, but I also think I need to have a talk with Simone about her husband." Athrun looked around for his bag, he picked it up and then rummaged around inside. He pulled out a small gold chain and attached was a charm on it in the shape of a sun. "this was given to me by a person that I look up to and respect, before he passed on he said this charm represented the courage and determination of the person wearing it. I think you need it more than i do right now"

"I promise you we will handle the situations at hand together Alexis." He said with a smile "And when the time comes, I will be the one to take Max out" He said looking her in the eyes

What Alexis did not know was that Athrun had changed. He was now Empowered with new ability's and was suppressing that power in order to keep a low profile. He knew very well that he would not be able to hide these ability's and power from her very much longer...

[Alexis Reese James]

Lexi couldn't hide her surprise when Athrun started to talk. When he held out some sort of amulet, she could only stare at it for a long moment before reaching out to trace the lines almost absently. Then, she picked it up and sighed, knowing that she was missing something very important in this conversation.

Unfortunately, her mind was in to much of a whirl to really comprehend much beyond her own confusion and disillusionment. And that wasn't even taking into accounting the amount of liquor she'd put away in a system that normally wasn't used to anything stronger than a glass of wine.

Which was a sign of just how distressed she truly was.

Having worked in a nightclub most of her life, she saw on a daily biases what stupidity alcohol could lead to. She'd always subscribed to the theory that if she was going to do something stupid, she'd rather be sober and remember it than drunk and a total fool.

And generally, she kept to that theory unless out with trusted friends or so out of her element that the whiskey began to look like one of those said friends.

Such as a night like tonight.

God, she was in so much trouble. It was dangerous for a power like hers to become inebriated and it was a weakness she seldom indulged in. Pity she didn't really give a flying monkey about that tonight.

Finally glancing upwards, Lexi sighed and put her chin in her palm. Her indigo eyes glimmered but her voice was soft as she spoke.

"I don't know that Tristian needs to be killed. He's not one of the evil ones. I'm just not sure... I don't know... Thats the problem.. I don't know much of anything anymore. I don't know if I'm a wife.. a widow..I don't know what the hell I am and I've no clue what WE are anymore. Ten years changes people, Athrun.... Tristian... Tristian is different now.. We are not the same two people who fell in love all those years ago and I'm not sure its something we can over come...." she said in a lost voice totally unlike herself before she dropped the other shoe. "I'm not even sure I want to anymore...... "

That said, Lexi felt tears swim to the surface a bit but shook herself. She wouldn't let herself go like this.

"Every time I look at him, Athrun.... I have memories of Luka.... As hard as I try... I can't seem to move past it...."

[Athrun Knight]

Athrun looked down at his water, weather or not she wanted him too he would be hunting Tristian down and paying him a visit. Athrun looked back up at Lex then smiled
"were gonna get through this Lex, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon so I'm gonna give you a hand figuring this out" He said.

Athrun's smile faded "Now as for Ryder, you said he sold his soul to a demon" His face turned dead serious, "what do you mean by that?" He asked in total concern for Simone. If Simone was in any danger, Lex know very well that Athrun would do what he had to to ensure that she was safe.

[Alexis Reese James]

It was a relief on some level to confide in Athrun. Even after all these years, she still felt as close to him as she ever had and she knew he loved her children as if they were his own. In fact, there had been times over the years since Tristians death that she'd turn to him for more than just supernatural help. He'd become a fixture in her families life as a rock they could all lean on when needed and Simi in particular had grown attached.

Lexi had often wondered what she herself would have done without being able to count on his capable hands through out the years. He'd helped keep her sane after Tristian's disappearance and had helped her cope with being a single parent of gifted children. It couldn't have been the easiest job in the world.

That thought alone brought a soft laugh from her lips and then she shook her head. Life was insane at times.

"Yes, Simi married Ryder Winchester..." she started with a soft whisper. "They'd been seeing each other since the whole incident with Gregg and the demon. In fact, they'd basically been living together the last few months until Christmas. Unfortunately, it seems that Ryder made a deal with a demon for his soul in exchange for his ex fiances life sometime before that when he was on his drunken binge. He doesn't remember anything of it but Cristine showed up at the house on Christmas Eve..... As you can imagine... It broke Simi's heart and they spent a couple weeks apart trying to figure out what they both wanted. Somehow, Ryder ended up stopping SImi from getting on a plane to Athens and they flew to Hawaii instead and were married... I"m not exactly sure how all that went down but... End result is that my baby is now a Winchester and expecting twins with her husband... who still has a contract out on his soul. No one knows how much time he has left or anything and theres been no luck finding out who holds it either."

Dropping her chin back into her palm, Lexi swirled her glass before sighing.

"Shes been having nightmares about it all.. Shes trying not to let Ry know but ...... You know our Simi......Its eating at her slowly but surely each day we don't find an answer. "

[Athrun Knight]

Athrun looked down at his empty glass of water, Of course he really wanted to plant his foot in Ryder's ass. This angered him, more then anything. Who did this punk think he was to put Simone in danger like that. He knew if he went after Ryder, one because he was not a young man anymore, and two Simone would never forgive him.

He knew he had to think of something, because at anytime the walls could come down on them at any time. Then there was the issue With Tristian. How was he going to handle that? It was a problem that had to be handled as well.

Athrun did not take his eyes off his glass until he squeezed it so hard is shattered in his hand. "Alexis, do you know where Simone and Ryder is, I'm gonna have Randy keep a eye on her. But first thing is first we need to figure out what to do about Tristian, Max what ever he calls himself now"