"In back," Jaime agreed, never slowing his steps.
They pushed through another door and into a tiny office. Jaime set him in a chair, then Sin did his best to straighten himself using only his arms. Every movement hurt, but he'd be damned if he let the people around him see it. He also had no intention of slumping like a rag doll.
"Here." Rissa thrust a pistol at him.
He hadn't seen her pick it up, but that was the one he'd left on the ground. His eyes scanned the side and he saw the safety was even latched. Tipping his head in appreciation, he accepted the weapon and shoved it back in the holster where it belonged.
"Where's your robe?" he asked.
"I have it in a bag," Jaime said. "Figured it wouldn't draw any attention if it looked like she went shopping. What else do you need, Brother?"
Sin sighed. "Fifteen minutes, that's all. I have help on the way. Just forget I'm here."
"More priests?" the man asked, obviously the shop owner. "That's going to draw some attention."
Sin reached for his neck, slowly dragging the steel chain from under his armor. "One, maybe two men with these. Probably plain clothes. If they don't have the necklace with the eye, then I'm not here right now."
"Right," Jaime said, and left the room, leaving the two of them alone.
"Rissa?" Sin asked, unable to stop thinking about his little conundrum. "Why are you the only one to wake up after the wipes?"
She paused for a little too long. "They don't talk to us about that. What doyouknow?"
"A bit. I've been trying hard to keep track of what's going on. I know about your last handler getting killed, Riss. I know you wiped and were unconscious when they removed you from the scene. I also know you're the only one to wake up from a reset and be completely operational. Does this have anything to do with you starting to keep your memories?" He tilted his head, trying to show his question wasn't an accusation. "Is it an error in their code?"
Her eyes jumped to the side, refusing to meet his. "It's a modification."
Sin ran that through his mind a few times, trying to figure out what she meant. "So you're an experiment?"
"They don't know about it," she mumbled.
"Fuck," he breathed. "You modified the coding of your own mind?"
"Please don't tell them?" she begged.
He leaned his head back and sighed. "Princess, I'm not going to make your life harder. I'm certainly not going to say shit to your employers. I just can't believe I thought you were a spoiled brat. The fact that you have to hide your own memories? That's not even right!"
The look on her face was filled with nothing but relief. Until that moment, he hadn't realized how true her title was. This woman really was an angel. She was gentle yet strong, and had a grace about her he'd never seen in another living soul. If being enhanced took away her humanity, then it had clearly replaced it with something else. Something a lot closer to divinity.
"I sectioned off a small piece of my mind for backup storage," she admitted. "And I try to keep a recent snapshot of my current mental state in there."
He just shook his head. "Don't even know what that means, but I trust you."
"Really?" she asked. "Is it because we're friends?"
"Yeah, Riss. I mean, I wouldn't get my legs shot out for just anyone."
The crinkles deepened as she smiled more and she actually giggled. "Yes, you would."
"Technicalities. We're still friends, though. And in a minute, I think you're going to get more." He paused, realizing how naive she was about the world outside her Enclave. "One thing."
"Yes?" Her head twitched slightly, as if she'd heard something.
"Not all Legates are your friends. Not yet. Just the Fallen." He tapped the chain around his neck. "For right now, only trust the people wearing one of these, ok?"
"Ok," she agreed.
But he could hear voices in the shop beyond. She turned to the door, proving he wasn't making it up. Sadly, he didn't know if it was his backup or the next wave of attackers. Reaching to his thigh, he powered on one of his guns.
