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A faint voice kept repeating “Connor” from somewhere on the floor. He gasped, wiped his face with his forearm, and scrambled for the phone.

His hands found the phone on the ground and brought it to his ear. “Robin?”

“Connor?” Robin’s breath crackled into his ear. “What happened?”

“He took the bar from me.”

“And?” Robin’s voice was stern, a side of them he hadn’t heard since the garage. “What did he do? Are you okay?”

Jun opened his mouth to answer, but saw Covey. He towered over the mess of his own living room, the bar pressed to his lips. White smoke curled from the corners of his mouth. He inhaled deeply, eyes closed, and the trembling stopped.

The smoke thinned. Covey opened his eyes. The redness was gone. He blinked, looked around the wrecked room, and when his gaze found Jun on the floor, he jolted. “How did you get in here?”

Jun wasn’t sure if he should move. He wasn’t sure if he should even say anything. “The door was unlocked…”

Covey walked down the hallway and peeked. A crunch came from beneath his fuzzy slippers, and he froze. He carefully walked around the mess of glass and pillows. He put his hands on his hips and chuckled.

“Well, at least it was you that came in,” he muttered. He sighed and drew his attention to the bar in his hands, then looked at Jun. “Is this yours?”

Jun quickly shook his head. He gathered himself to his feet, wincing as the pain in his left rib flared with the stretch. “You can have it,” Jun said quickly.

“Well, this is embarrassing…” After another look around the room, Covey asked, “What time is it?”

Jun glanced at his phone, still on call with Robin. “8:06 a.m.”

Covey’s eyes widened but hid the anxiety with a flash of yellowed teeth. “I’ll meet you in the car. Give me like ten minutes. I’ll be quick!”

Jun watched him run up the stairs and disappear. He still had no idea if everything that had just happened in the last few minutes had actually happened.

“Connor!”

“Hello?” Avoiding the glass and other broken pieces, Jun made for the door.

“What just happened?”

“He wants me to get ready in the car and will be out soon.”

“Are you in the car?”

The morning sun’s rays lightly touched Jun’s head. It still wasn’t enough to help with the chilliness of the high altitude.

“I am now,” he said, opening the Vanquish’s driver-side door.

“So he’s not there right now?”

“No.” Jun turned the heater on, pulled his seat back, and let out a sigh.

Even though they weren’t even in the same room, he could feel Robin’s hesitation. “Are you hurt?” Robin finally asked.

Jun blinked. “No. Wait. Yes, kind of?” He shrugged it off. Why was it so hard to recollect what just happened? “He grabbed my wrist and took the bar out of my hand. And…”

Another long pause. “And?”

“He threw me. But that was on accident,” Jun said and bit his tongue before he said anything further. “I’m okay. It’s just a bruise.”

Robin sighed again. “It takes practice to handle reactions like that. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

Jun didn’t expect Robin to let their guard down like that. He couldn’t help wondering what Robin looked like, whether that softness in their voice showed on their face. “You helped plenty. You told me how to open the bar and activate it. Thanks for explaining it to a dummy like me.”