For Reese and Cree fans this is the scene where Reese and Cree first meet. It will be part of the second half of January Girl.

Note: The song is #1Crush by Garbage.

Cree entered the shack and found a sleeping bag, a photo album, and a small boom box sitting on the far corner. She flipped on the radio looking for some tunes. She found the punk station and turned the volume up while leafing through the photo album. She started to hum, sing and laugh a little. These are three things she hadn't done in a long time.

The door swung open as she looked up quickly. A boy her own age or just a little older stepped inside and startled her.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked as he stepped closer to her, but she backed herself into a corner.

"Stay away," she shouted out of fear.

He raised his hands in surrender, backing up towards the doorway. "Hey, chill, little girl, I'm Reese. I was just wondering what you were doing looking through my stuff."

"I'm sorry," Cree said. She lifted her hands so he could see her palms. "Just back away and I'll leave, and then you'll never see me again."

He came towards her again, but slower this time. "That's not what I meant." Even closer he stepped until her screams made him stop.

"Stay away from me!" He ignored her until her cries shook the entire shack. "I mean it! I'll kill you if you come any closer."

"Cree, calm down," he said using her name. He put up his hands in surrender. "I won't to hurt you. I just wanna know how you got down here."

Cree slumped into a corner cradling herself. Reese stayed frozen as the radio still played on. Cree sang along to the song on the radio if only to drown out his voice.

"Ahhh... I would die for you... I would die for you..."

"Stop singing and talk to me," Reese demanded, but Cree just ignored him and kept singing. She thought if she did it long enough he would stop talking and go away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted. "Can't you hear me?" He asked the last question more out of concern then anger.

Suddenly tears fell from Cree's eyes. Reese tried to reach for her hands. He had barely touched her when she screamed in protest. He backed away not wanting to antagonize her further. Cree rose to her feet slowly while holding onto a small wooden shelf for support. She looked back at Reese, suddenly seeing him as an enemy.

"I told you not to touch me!" She screamed at him. Her whole body was shaking.

"What the hell did they do to you?" he wondered. He knew something terrible must have happened to make her act this way.

Seeing the hurt look in his eyes, Cree approached him. Suddenly she realized he wasn't trying to hurt her. Just like that woman who examined her. He was only trying to help, and she felt a little guilty about the way she had treated him. "I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I can be a bitch sometimes. I'm just not used to people being nice to me."

"It's okay, and you're not a bitch," he said in a sympathetic tone. "Whatever they did, I;m so sorry, but They can't hurt you anymore." He hesitated for a moment before his eyes shot up. He had an idea. He wanted to make her more comfortable, so she didn't have to be afraid. It also gave him an excuse to spend more time with her. "So, Cree," he said using her name. She half smiled at that. "You want to get out of here and go do something? The city's nice this time of day."

Cree thought for a moment and going out in public was to terrifying a thought. "No, I can't go out there."

"Why not?" he asked. Then he realized that could be what she was afraid of. She was probably out on the streets when they grabbed her. "Do you think something's going to happen?"

She nodded her response without out saying word. She was like a frightened animal, and he just wanted nothing more than to help her.

"You don't have to be scared," he said, reaching for her hand.

Her defenses went up again and she hid her hands away. "I told you not to touch my hands." She went silent for a moment and then looked up at him. "Hands hurt people."

Before he knew it she flew past him and out of the door. He turned to see where she was heading and saw she was running down to the beach near the water. There was no way he was just going to leave her on her own so he ran after her. When he finally caught up with her they were both out of breath. She knelt down on the sand and looked out at the ocean waiting for her breathing to return to normal.

"You say I don't have to be scared but you're wrong," she said. "You don't know what they can do, but I do." She had her head down and he squatted down listening intently. He didn't dare touch her for fear of her running away again. "They expect you to be normal," she continued. There was some shakiness in her voice and he was just beginning to understand how hard this was for her. "Then when it turns out that you're not, they lock you away, but you don't realize it, because they give you so many drugs that you're either unconscious or immobile." A tear escaped her eye and he looked over at him. "Anyone ever do that to you?"

"No," he said slowly, "but that doesn't mean..."

"Yes, it does," she shouted, cutting him off. "When I was thirteen years old I found out my mother wasn't really my mother. She stole because of my powers, so I ran away? Do you know what I to do to survive?" Reese moved his head back and forth, although he could guess at what she was about to say. "I got involved with a gang," she said. "We did anything we could to make money. Stealing, cons, and..." Reese's eyes got big. "That too," she said. "I was only thirteen, but it was better than starving, but then I got kidnapped. You know the rest."

"Just the part where Mom and Dusk got you out of there," Reese said. "They brought you here to protect you."

"Your mom?" she asked confused. "Not Marianna."

"Yeah, that's her," he said. "I'm Reese."

"You mentioned that earlier," she said and got up off the sand. She walked around a little, not really going anywhere.

Reese stood up as well. He wanted to do something, say something to make her feel better. "Look, Cree, you don't have to worry. Mom's cool." He tried to lighten the mood. "Dusk is acting like an ass, but then he always does." Cree let out a small laugh. It was the first time he made her do that and it made him smile. "You see, things aren't so bad."

"Okay, I guess you're right," she said.

"So what do you say we get out of here?" he asked

"Well, okay." She looked out at the ocean again. "Wow."

"What?" He wondered.

"We never had beaches like this in Ohio. I always wanted to see the ocean, but I never thought it would be like this."

"Well, if you stick around a little while I'll take you out on my boat," he said which made her smile.

"I've never been on a boat before," she said. "I can't even swim."

"Then I'll teach you," he said. "It's not so hard once you get the hang of it."

"Thanks," she said. "You're a nice boy." She looked out at the water again. She had a crazy thought and for some reason she wanted to share it with him. "You know what I wish?"

"What?" he asked. He couldn't wait for her to tell him.

She looked back at him, a serene smile on her face. "I wish that I could be one of those waves." He wasn't expecting her to say that, but in the short time he had spent with her she acted in ways he never expected. He listened closely to what she had to say. "Then I could go anywhere I wanted, and no one could ever lock me up again."

Reese made no response. He just held out his hand. Cree refused him and instead walked on ahead of him. She still had a hard time trusting people. Maybe that was why she left the complex. She just hoped that Reese would be her friend. She never had a friend she was really close to, not since leaving the gang, and she thought it would be nice to have one.

Do you want to see more random scenes with Reese and Cree? If you have an idea just leave them in the comments. Some of these scenes may or may not end up in a story.