The Universe's Mixer

Maybe there was something to this whole "the city gives you a home" thing, after all. Megan had found a really cozy apartment on her first day of seriously looking, and they seemed completely willing to rent to her without her even having to break out her fake ID. And... okay, so they stared at her wings, and the ears, and everything else, but she was used to that. She got a room with a view that was high up if not exactly scenic and she could use her tiny balcony as a second entrance if she really wanted, so it was all right.

And, she'd found a part-time job! It was a nice, normal job, even. No weird bulletproof outfits required. Just an apron over normal clothes, and she could deal with that. She could definitely get used to being a barista.

Or, she could once she got the hang of the espresso machine. She might have stretched the truth during her interview--her previous experience had been more like "dump grounds in the coffee pot, turn on, remember to empty when done" than what she'd let on.

She'd figure it out eventually, she was positive.

She wasn't sure what happened. One moment she was walking away from Doom, into the heart of Halo City, and the next she was in a place that looked nothing like where she'd been. The tech was all so much older. She'd run back around the corner to find no trace of Doom, the car he'd forced her to steal, or even the spot where the two had been.

Confused, Annie wandered for a while, looking at the cars that were not the same as she was used to, being bombarded by things that wanted to speak to her, not sure what she was doing here, not sure how to get back to where she was - but not sure she really even wanted to go back. It wasn't as if home had been the greatest place to live. She knew it, sure, but could this place be any worse? The only problem with this place was that she didn't know how she'd gotten here.

Hey.

Annie turned. She didn't see anybody nearby. She began to walk again.

Hey. Please. It wasn't precisely words, not like other people might understand them. More like feelings projected. More like ideas. But she'd been at it so long, it was like plain English to her.

This time, she looked down. There, on the ground, was a watch. It's face cracked, it's strap broken. Annie knelt down, the watch looked really old. Though, she supposed it could be somebody's favored antique. Something that their great grandparent had worn, and had been kept in the family. That would be really rare, though. She didn't think a lot of things like that had survived the war. Not a lot of people had survived the war. But, this place didn't look as if there had been a war. Ever.

Don't leave me here.

"What if they come back for you?"

They won't. He won't. He doesn't care about me. He saw me drop and left me. Please. I can be fixed, I'm sure of it.

"Let me see..." Annie didn't touch the watch, not yet. She felt as if she might hurt it more somehow. As if it were a human body and it's neck was broken, if she moved it, she might kill it. She closed her eyes and pushed away all the strangeness that had just happened to her, blocking out all the noise. Then she looked at the watch again. Internally, it appeared to be fine. Annie smiled. "You're right. It's just your face that's broken. And your strap."

She reached down to pick the watch up.