I grinned, smelling the unpolluted air of Southern Ireland.

"I'm back..."

A gun cocked nearby. "Where'd you come from?" A man asked in Gaelic.

"My mother's snatch, I guess." I chuckled. "Anyway, sorry for trespassing, just trying to get to Belfast." I looked around.

He nodded. "I'm headed that way now, miss... But you'll be needing to change, won't you?" He gestured to my white woolen clothes, a man's shirt and leggings.

"I'm fine, I've clothes at home." I smiled at him, and he set his rifle back in his gun-rack of his truck.

"I suppose it's fine, then." He nodded. "What's your name?" He asked. "Mines Jack."

"Mine's James." I grinned.

He blinked slowly, and the girl in the truck looked me up and down shamelessly. "You're A girl." She hummed.

"I am." I nodded. 'Physically...' I grumbled mentally.

She nodded. "Alright. Let's go, Papa, we need to get to the college a half-hour early, remember?" She asked the elderly man.

He nodded. "Yes. Well, hop in back, dear, and we'll be off." He slipped into the drivers seat.

I climbed nimbly into the back of the truck with the girl, and leaned against the walls of the bed. "Ahh, it's great to taste that air..." I breathed deep.

She chuckled. "Where you from?" She asked.

"Belfast." I nodded down the road. "Haven't been home in... A while."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Had to travel for the Olympics first, then had to travel for... Other stuff. I had no choice in the matter." I shrugged.

"Olympics? OHMIGOD! You're James McAlester! See, papa, I told you they didn't label her wrong! Her name really is James!" She laughed into the cab of the truck.

"Oh?" He said, disinterested, but humoring her.

I smiled. "You like gymnastics, girl?"

"No, I'm more of a swimmer, but gymnastics is awesome too, I guess, just not for me. I compete in Fencing." She said proudly, grinning.

I smiled wider. "Oh? Watch out, we have the next Ledecky, getting a ride with McAlester. Ahh, the irony, huh?" I chuckled.

She laughed. "Yeah right. No way would that happen. The trials are in a few weeks. But I don't think I'll get to be part of the finals." She shrugged.

"Why not? You have supportive family, that's more than I ever had. You can do anything, if you really work at it, and if you have the drive." I shrugged back at her.

She frowned. "So... Is your family really that unsupportive? I heard your comments to that reporter after the medalist ceremony..."

"Yes, dear. And worse. But it's fine, I've always been alone in my troubles." I shrugged, and looked up. The town was coming into view.

"That's... Unthinkable, for me. I rely on my family for support, and I still have to fight for spots in meets, in England." She hummed.

"Yes, well. Some people are just born tougher, and others are born with tougher bases to hold them up." I said, and tapped the window. "Thanks for the ride, sir."

"No problem, dear... Are you really McAlester, though?" He asked slowly.

"Yes." I said, and sat back.

"I'm Riley, by the way. Riley McFarlane." The girl nodded.

"McFarlane? You're Scottish?" I grinned.

"On my father's side." She smirked.

"Oh, well I'd better be scared, The Scot's are known for their savagery..." I chuckled.

She laughed, and the old man chuckled.

I winked at her and lowered my voice. "They're also know for their prowess in all form's of... Physical Exertion..." I smirked at my open invitation hidden in innuendo.

She blushed and smiled. "I'm sure you'd like to know."

"I would, yes." I shrugged, leaning back to make my body longer, smiling innocently as her eyes roamed my long and shapely form.

---

I stood slowly, cracking my neck, and hissed in annoyance, as there were cuts on my back.

"Sorry..." Riley grumbled from the bed, blushing.

"Mm... Same." I motioned to the long and shallow slashes on her butt and hips.

She blushed. "It's fine... So... Uhm..."

I smiled and slowly straddled her. I kissed her deeply. "That was fun, dear. Now I've got to get going, I have business I need to get done. Maybe I'll call you." I shrugged, standing.

"Mmm... I think that would be amazing..." She chuckled.

"I'd better see you in Tokyo, at the 2020 Olympics, love. Fencing, was it? Hmm..." I straddled her again, and kissed her deeply, relishing my first taste of a woman in two long, long years. "I think you'd be good in wrestling as well..."

She giggled. "Mm... I don't know. Two years... Maybe too long..."

"That so? Let me give you something to remember me by, then..." I drifted down, gently marking her skin, kissing the new hickeys, and then spread her thighs as I marked them, to.

She gasped and moaned my name repeatedly for the next four hours or so.

---

I sat on my couch, and sighed. "Home Sweet Home, I suppose..." I looked around.

I decided I was hungry, and so I pulled a bottle of water out of my fridge, then the ingredients for an omelet.

As it was cooking, I was surprised by the door opening.

I turned, and hummed. "Hello, mother." I said simply, and went back to cooking. I set one of the two omelets I'd cooked onto a plate, and then sat down with it at the table.

"... Where have you been?" She asked quietly.

I looked up in surprise. "Hmm? You almost sound like you care!" I hummed.

She sighed and sat down. "I do."

"Hmph. I'll believe that when I see it. If you must know, I was in Australia, then Egypt, Rome, and a few other places." I shrugged and began eating.

"Traveling, hmm? You always wanted to travel... My child, are you... Happy?" She asked, again in that soft tone, like she was afraid I was a ghost that would be scared away.

I slowly set down my fork. "No. I'm not. Are you?" I asked, and looked her in the eyes.

This proved to be a terrible mistake, as I saw something I hadn't ever seen. My mother's true emotions. She was so insufferably morose, and completely, totally broken; the eyes of a dead woman walking.

I blinked, surprised, and she nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you're surprised that I have emotions other than rage or hate and spite. But I'm lonely, truthfully. You were all I had, and I treated you so terribly that you simply left me. I realize I was a horrible mother-"

I slammed my fork down, making her flinch, and snarled at her. "You weren't a mother. You were an insufferable bully and a completely hateful bitch, who made my entire existence a living hell. I learned gymnastics because I had a talent, and you called it a whores sport. I learned fighting because I needed to protect myself from your boyfriends, and you called me a liar and a whore who seduced your lovers into raping me. You were never, in any capacity past birthing me, my mother. And I never loved you. I don't think my heart is pure enough to forgive monsters like you. That's my own personality flaw, something I'll work on. But not here, and not with you. I only came back because I'd hoped you'd be gone." I stood at the end of my rant, and walked out.

Once I was out of the house, I sighed, and cracked my back. "Where to... I need to let off some more steam..."

I spotted Riley walking with a group of cute girls, and grinned. "Well well... to think you'd find me all on your own, lovely..." I laughed.

She blushed. "Uhm... Hi, James... oh! Girls, this is James McAlester, im sure you've heard of her."

I twitched. "Please stop calling me 'her', lovely, it irks me. I've been patient, but please stop using female pronouns."

She blushed again. "Ah. Sorry..."

The other girls started asking questions, but I ignored them and leaned against Riley. "No problem, lovely... how's the scratches? Any soreness? I wasn't too rough, was I?" I smiled.

She blushed an even deeper shade as her friends began to make innuendos, and shook her head. "No... I'm fine."

"You definitely are, my dear..." I kissed her ear, my hands pulling her closer by the hips.

She gasped, and looked at her friends. "Uhm... girls, I think I'm going to be busy after all, I'm sorry... I'd have loved to go see that movie with you, but..."

They laughed as one. One stepped forward and kissed her sweetly. "No problem, girl. Make sure you are the one who leaves scratches this time, yeah?" She winked.

"She already did..." I grinned, mystified by the tender attraction I sensed between them.

She blinked, then hummed, looking mildly annoyed for a moment. "I see..."

Riley abandoned me without a second thought, and hugged the girl. "Sorry, Siobhan, I didn't ditch you for her on purpose, it was a coincidence!"

"Ahh? That appointment you were supposed to get to... you had a date? Sorry, I guess I distracted you. My bad." I grinned.

She blushed again, and the new girl raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Interesting... I'll have to have an entirely full recount of what happened... a play by play?" She grinned lustily, and I knew what was up.

The two were in an open relationship, and had had a date today. I'd somehow interrupted twice now.

I smirked. "I'd love to... Siobhan, was it? You seem like my type..." I traced a long finger down her side, before taking a decent handful of her ass, squeezing.

She shivered. "How'd you know I like my ass?"

"Call it... Predators instinct..." I smirked. Then I looked at the three girls who were watching this whole thing unfold. "Run along, girls, these two are mine for the day..." I drew the two girls to a nearby motel, going to the room that I'd ordered on the way.

They collapsed on the bed, watching me undress, and then began undressing themselves. I watched, amused, and climbed into the bed, pulling their naked skin to mine, and kneading their hips.

"Such pretty women... ah, I've missed Ireland." I chuckled, before my mouth was very busy.

---

I climbed out of the bed, spanking the sweaty, spent women, and gazed at the Piece that had appeared. "Damn... time's up... bye gals." I kissed them again, and brought them each one last time, letting them bring me, before sighing and getting a shower.

I dressed, and gripped the piece.

---

I stood in the Jigsaw plane, and looked at Chirac. He looked like a postman today. "Alright, Chirac. What next?" I asked.

"A Choice... you see, I can release you from your bargain, for a price, or send you to the next piece, and you can solve the puzzle, and gain the Prize at the end." He hummed.

"You still haven't told me what the prize is."

He hummed again. "No, I haven't... Well, it won't hurt anything. The prize is the ability to step through time. You'll be placed in an alternate reality, and be able to shape it to your will. You may change history, even your own, in that reality. You will be immortal, as I am. You will then become the Conductor of this realm, my replacement, so to speak. Your alternate realm will become your... Home. Your place to rest between jobs. And you'll finally be allowed to kill me." He nodded.

I blinked and sat down. "I see... and the price for leaving the competition?"

He smirked. "I drop you in a random place in time, and you find your way back to your life by your own wit. The Pieces will still be active, of course. In that reality, you really do die when I said you would, and you have friends and family. But when you die, you're mine anyway. You'll solve the Puzzle, either way. There is no true way out, only a 70 year reprieve." He shrugged.

I laughed heartily. "So my ultimate choice is whether to take my Vacation Now, versus later?"

He nodded.

I chuckled. "You must not know me very well... I'll take my vacation now, please."

He simply nodded again, and clenched his hand. I fell through a Piece, and landed on sand. Not red sand, but white sand. A beach?

I looked around, and nodded. "This looks rather familiar..." I noticed a town, and walked towards it.

---

I tapped one man on the shoulder. "Hallo, sir, might ye tell me where I am? I'm terribly lost." I asked him.

He grunted. "That ye are, lass. This here is Belfast. Ye clearly don't belong." He huffed.

"Oh? I did'nay recognize it! I was born here, ya know. Or in the area, at least." I nodded.

He squinted at me. "I don't recognize ye at all. Ye must be on the bottle, ye must. Me wife is the Midwife, I see all babe's that are brought into the world here, these past forty years or so." He huffed again.

I raised an eyebrow. "Ye callin' me a liar, man?"

He blinked, then grinned. "Oh ye, I recognize ye now. Yer related to Harriet, yeah?" He asked.

I blinked at the mention of my grandmother's name. "Close, yes. I'm her...-"

"Cousin!!!" A small girl slammed into me, and I blinked in confusion.

The man smiled. "Harriet! I was just meeting your cousin here! Go play, yes? We'll be done talking in a mo'."

She pouted. "But I wanna play with her!!!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I see. And what does that mean?"

She sighed. "I has to be patient..."

"Correct!" He grinned easily.

I smiled at the easy interaction. "Sorry, sir, I never introduced myself. The name is James." I held out a hand to shake.

He blinked. "Hmm. Same." He laughed again, and shook my hand.

"Interesting. Well, I'll be seeing ye!" I grinned and started walking, my hands in my pockets.

Harriet quickly caught up, and dangled from my shoulders, hauling herself up and sitting on my shoulder. "Hallo, Jay!" She giggled.

"Well hullo, little one. How'd you recognize me, hmm? I haven't seen you in quite a while." I said truthfully.

She giggled. "Mister Chirac told me about you. You're gonna be my friend, right?" She gazed at me adorably, with big puppy eyes, and I laughed after my initial shock.

"Yes, dearest. I'll be your friend. But first I need to go find someone, so you'll have to go play somewhere else, okay?" I set her down.

She smiled. "Okay!" She sprinted off, and I headed in the direction of the Brothel I knew was somewhere. It had been torn down in the Eighties, but this was the 30's... fun time to be alive, I supposed.