Peter's re-emergence in Talion's life was puzzling and exhausting. He thought there was nothing left in Peter's heart but regret and sadness. But Talion could not ignore that Peter had shown jealousy the other night. It gave him such an itchy smile, almost making him laugh whenever he recalled it.

Really? After so long?

He had to admit that he was ecstatic about the revelation. Maybe he also didn't know everything about Peter. This could mean that when his secret missions were over, and he came clean to Peter, there was a chance that his Kitten wouldn't call him a liar and cut all ties to him.

"Master, there's an invitation for you, f-from the second Master," Link hesitantly mentions, trying not to interrupt his Alpha's train of thought abruptly.

Talion stares at the black envelope in Link's hands, and a flourish of annoyance blooms in his chest.

"I hate those things. Even when we were at our happiest, I found them bothersome. I'll just ignore it."

Links sucks in his breath and responds rather fast, "If you don't go, the others will start up again. The last time you skipped out, the third Omega got brave enough to steal our allowance for the winter holiday. We ate nothing but ramen noodles and fast food while everyone else got to have extravagant dinners abroad during their vacations."

Talion sighs, "It inconvenienced you more than it did me. I'm a homebody, you know that."

Link pitifully sighs and replies, "I wanted to see the snowy mountains with you, but instead, I had to stay here in the dark, brooding with you."

"I did not brood. Who would brood just because of a bad holiday?" Talion pouts.

Link's about to whack his Alpha upside his head.

"You complained about it relentlessly, too. Don't selectively pick your memories!" The fox's hand is slightly raised, ready to hit his target.

Talion laughs and takes the envelope. He reads it and scoffs.

"You are cordially invited to attend Sophia De Leon's fourth birthday party this Friday. The birthday girl loves mermaids and unicorns. Please dress to impress!"

Ugh, it's to celebrate that little mysterious girl's birthday.

About two-and-a-half years ago, a little girl with grey hair and hazel eyes was abandoned in front of the estates, and a note was attached declaring that she was Peter's child. Talion had felt slightly sore about it back then, but when he saw the little girl, he held no animosity toward her for some reason. The only thing was that he felt oddly overprotective of her, and his head sometimes bothered him when she smiled.

Until recently, he was even one of her primary caretakers, but since his mission was about to end soon, he had asked Jinx to dismiss him from her life. The last thing Talion needed was one more potential goodbye to look forward to.

"She actually prefers fairies more than anything. When she watches television, all her favorite cartoons revolve around them. She likes the ones that either spring up from flowers or trick people into pranks. A popular doll from her favorite show, Sugar Rose Dust, was recently on display at the local toy store in the city. Pick one up for the party, along with new art supplies."

Link knows the little princess, too, and he likes her well enough, but he finds it worrisome that his Talion grew attached to her. He said it was best for her not to see him anymore, but in truth, Talion just wanted to distance himself so it wouldn't hurt when he'd leave for good.

"Yes, sir, but before that," Link sternly starts, "we need to buy party clothes."

Link's eyes are like blazing novas when Talion slowly turns around to meet them. Talion knows he's in for a grueling shopping session with the shop-a-holic Link. He loathes shopping even with Peter, and Peter loves it almost as much as Link.

"I'm just gonna pick the same things that I always do," Tal says every word with a heavy hint of his couldn't-be-bother passion, and he finishes with a plead, "Link, come on, don't make me go!"

Link's face of determination doesn't change. Talion already feels the ball and chain around his ankle, which he dubs as his laziness getting heavier.

"I'll get the car ready. The party is in two days. We'll grab you clothes and maybe something for me, and we need some groceries too anyway..." Link goes on pleasantly planning their day and night out.

Talion can't help but faintly grin at the Omega's carefree vibe. Underneath it all, Lincoln knows it's only a matter of time before they part, and these types of days will be but memories.

"Let's get going, sir."

Both of them leave for the nearest high-end mall, and they make the rounds once there. Every encounter is the same.

When they walk into a store, the staff and patrons see Talion, and it doesn't matter who they are. Everyone stops what they're doing to stare at the blessed beauty that the heavens sent them for the day. Men, women, and even the potential alien or two among them feel quite flush staring at the pretty gold eyes and long lashes that cast a beautiful shadow over the handsome face.

Lincoln's terrible secret is that he likes the stares. They think he's lucky to have such a good-looking partner.

His Alpha is very good at regulating his pheromones, even in his Omega state. Others wouldn't guess he was an Omega just by looking at him, and since no scent could prove otherwise, they looked like an average Alpha-Omega couple to everyone.

Once they picked out their outfits for the party. They went grocery shopping for a light dinner and promptly returned home.

Talion could see how much Lincoln loved spending the entire day with him. It made him feel like a bastard, but it was interesting to see how much bittersweet the puppy could endure.

He admits that sometimes he finds himself in Link.

Peter treated him like a favorite sweater. He only brought him out when he wanted to reminisce. Yet, that didn't matter because Talion was happy just to be kept in Peter's closet.

Link turns in for the night, and Talion smokes on his little balcony. The moonlight drips onto his delicate yet sharp features like honey drips from a honeycomb. His glistening eyes stare far off into his past.

When he first met Peter, they were enemies. Talion's craving for blood and fire brought him to a remote, mafia-run town on the outskirts of the Noir de Nuit Prefecture. It was a cute little French-inspired town in New Europe.

The Clan de Leon had many connections, and the mafia that ran the town was one of them. Tal didn't know it then, but Peter despised that his clan owed the blood worms any form of allegiance. Yet, because of that allegiance, Peter was dispatched by his father to aid in the killing of a so-called Demon.

Talion stalked and killed the ones that step over the damn line. The ones who raped and killed because of their deluded sense of power. He tore out their tongues along with their jaw bones or stomped to smither-reens their dicks with his foot. The longer it took to try and stop him, the more creative each death became.

One night, Peter got wind of Talion playing with one of his victims in the alley. He had been ordered to track him down, and Peter thought he was lucky to bump into his target on a cool summer's night.

"Don't you dare cry," Talion's predatory voice said, stopping the Grey Reaper short by several steps.

It shook him like no voice ever had. It was sickly sweet and deviously warm.

"You didn't give that cute girl a chance to cry."

Peter nearly broke out in a sweat, hearing the bloodlust in every word.

"I-I did-didn't," the guy whose throat was being strangled mercilessly began to say, "mean to break her. She wa-was just- weee-weak."

Talion's face turned darkly sinister as he manifested his wings and flew up with the guy in his grasp.

The man cried, "AHH!!"

Tal chuckled with a mesmerizing smile illuminated by the moonlight behind him before letting the man go. The guy fought needlessly against gravity, falling eighty or so stories to his death in an awful splat.

Peter leaped up the side of the nearest fire escape and kept his eye on the descending target. Part of him wanted to call it in and request reinforcements, but Talion had shown great skill in hiding. In short, if Peter didn't stop him now, then Talion would most likely hide himself away once again.

The Prince of De Leon readied himself to leap upon his enemies back when Talion suddenly stopped descending and cock his head to the side. His luminous black hair moved with him and fell gracefully to one side. Peter couldn't help but think how utterly beautiful the winged man was as he stared at him from afar.

"I don't know what to do with you," Talion's voice came out sinisterly mischievous.

Peter seized up upon the realization that he was discovered quite easily.

"I thought a spell bewitched me, but I might have died instead because you are an angel, right?"

Peter couldn't understand how or why, but his cheeks burned like crazy. Perhaps it was the fact that the most beautiful man he had ever seen with wings-mind you-was calling him an angel of all things.

Peter's voice was stern and void of sweetness as he answered, "You need to die, and I need to be the one to kill you. Calling me an angel won't change that."

Talion felt bothered by it, but then Peter's cat-like grin surfaced. He remembers feeling his heart pick up like never before. Even now, it flutters like crazy.

"I feel like you won't disappoint me. Let's see how long you last, pretty bird," the kid's voice was still cold and hard, but it held just a sliver of competitiveness that made him almost sound playful.

Peter suddenly lunged into the air straight for the hovering Talion, who was blindsided by the cat's bloodlust grin. It resonated pretty powerfully with his own unhinged love for blood and gore. And so, they fought.

The cat brought the bird down, but the bird only laughed as he took Peter's blade fully into his back. However, with a great thrust of his left wing, Talion managed to shake Peter off, and just when the cat was recovering, Talion brought out his fan.

Like a Lynx, Peter was agile with superspeed, and his attacks were imbued with lethal strength. His magic affinity was soul-based, meaning he could manipulate the mind and emotions of his prey.

Formidable, indeed, but against Talion, he fell short. When Talion aimed and flicked his fan towards him, Peter thought it was a joke, but at the very last second, he heard the sonic boom coming at him with his enhanced hearing. He dodged the superspeed wind strike clumsily. The attack graze his upper arm deeply.

It was one of the few times anyone had succeeded in harming Peter. Talion remembered the kid's face as it paled. He feels terrible about it now, yet he remembers how he took the same fan that nearly killed Peter and fanned himself with it leisurely while enjoying the blood of his opponent dripping onto the ground pleasantly. All the while, Peter tried to understand the power behind his strike.

"I'm a descendant of a wind elemental spirit and an Osprey. My magic affinity is wind, and it's sharp enough to cut you in so many fun ways."

As if on cue, the wind swirled and whistled brazenly around them. Talion took his fan, aimed at Peter, but flicked it his way. Peter braced himself for a frontal attack, but the wind came from behind him.

He suddenly found himself being propelled towards his enemy. Swiftly, Talion caught him by his injured arm and pulled him closer. Peter struggled against him, but Talion's grip dug deeply into his wound.

The cat let out a hiss, and Talion snickered after hearing the lovely pain. Peter enlarged his incisors and chomped down into the bird's neck, but that didn't stop Talion from stabbing Peter's left side with his dagger.

Both bled heavily. Still, Peter gathered his strength and battered Talion harder, trying to break his embrace. He enlarged his arms and claws and whipped them at Talion's chest left and right.

Talion was caught off guard by Peter's fury and let him go. He threw Peter off some feet away.

"Hey now, kitty-kitty. That's a bit too much spice, don't you think?" Talion sneered.

Peter was at his limit with the quippy opponent. He had never fought anyone who talked so much, and no one had lasted so long in a fight.

Peter still believed he would triumph in the battle, but then Talion's switch turned off. It always happened at some point. During any fight, if it lasted long enough, Talion's focus narrowed, and his speed increased at an unimaginable rate.

Like a bird coming in for the kill, Talion lifted into the air and charged at Peter, who successfully blocked him even though his feet dragged across the cement harshly. Still, the bird was relentless as he bombarded the cat with swift hits and even stabs. Peter barely dodged a few, but at least several strikes pierced his skin.

And the bird didn't let up. Peter had never seen someone fight so well and so brazenly. In the eyes of the man before him, there was no fear of death. He was battling another Alpha, and Peter was losing, yet he couldn't help but think how beautiful the sight of the bleeding winged man before him looked.

"You almost fight like an innocent man. Yet you slaughter the Westleys' without remorse," Peter said through gritted teeth as he deflected every move he could.

Talion slowed and stepped back. His puzzled look gave Peter the impression that he was confused by his words.

"That's what they told you," Talion rubbed his chin gracefully and continued, "the audacity of the mediocre. They actually settled the blame of that botchy job on me?"

"Of course you did it. Don't try to deny it!" Peter exclaimed.

Talion scoffed, "I need to deny it, dumbass, even if you don't believe me. For the sake of my reputation, I must deny it. I passed by this place, and that family let me stay in the manor for the night. I had no reason to kill them."

"Why would the Westleys let you stay with them?"

"Their elder knew my late sister Ophelia. Apparently, she helped him live a long life, and he owed our clan a favor," Talion said, his wounds finally starting to wear him down.

"Yet, you killed them in cold blood," Peter kept accusing.

Talion's patience was running thin.

"Kitten, I didn't kill them. These bastards did," he kicked the nearest dead mobster softly, "I left the manor with one of their heirs on the night of the raid. I went with him to collect his sister from their private airstrip because their driver was ill. When we returned, the manor was already ransacked, and their parents and elders had been gutted."

The winged man rustled out a phone from his trench coat and threw it at Peter.

"I don't have the phone locked because I can't remember numbers well, but call the contact name Oscar. He's one of their last heirs. He can tell you what happened better than me," he explained as he took flight.

Hovering over the confused Peter, he said one last thing before he flew off to recover, "Next time I see you, Kitten, either kill me fast or be ready to have a kiss stolen by me."

Exhaling his smoke, Talion smiles at the memory of his first encounter with his Kitten and his hilarious expression when Talion winked and flew away into the night.

It's been decades since then. KP-level Alphas live longer than Betas or Omegas, and they age slowly. Both Peter and himself still look the same as then.

But they're not the same underneath. Not one bit.